The year 2025 is considered the year of the Snake. The Lunar New Year is a very significant holiday in China, Vietnam, South Korea, and other countries that are mainly occupied by Chinese residents. The Chinese New Year begins on the first full moon between Jan. 21 and Feb. 20 and lasts for 15 days or through the next full moon. Many traditions go on during the celebration of the Lunar New Year. Some festivities are firework shows, lion dances, sharing traditional holiday foods and celebrating the fifteenth day as the Lantern Day.

The Legend of Nian is the story that is believed to create some of the traditions that are celebrated on New Year’s Day.  The story goes that long ago there was a vicious beast called Nian (“Year”) and every night of the Lunar New Year, the beast would come to the towns and houses and eat the villagers. A wise old man shared his wisdom and said that three things would scare away Nian. Those three things were the color red, loud noises, and firecrackers; if you combine all of those things then you get red fireworks. The villagers waited until night and shot bright red fireworks at Nian. That now has created the tradition of firing red fireworks every Lunar New Year to keep Nian from returning and bringing bad luck along with him.

During the Lunar New Year, families give each other red envelopes, which are normally filled with money. The red envelope symbolizes good luck and fortune for the year ahead, and the money inside is not what gives the receiver luck, but the red color of the envelope is. Another purpose of the red envelopes is to bring prosperity and good fortune and also to keep away evil and wrong-doing spirits. Another notable aspect of the Lunar New Year traditions is the food; which is believed eating them will give you luck. Some of these foods are sweet and sour pork, whole fish, tangerines and oranges, shrimp, dumplings and spring rolls. The tangerines and oranges symbolize wealth and richness due to their color, resembling gold. The traditions also include sweeping and cleaning your house. This is because you are sweeping away the bad luck and spirits. The color of the Lunar New Year is red, this is because it wards off all of the demons and bad luck.

The Upper School has been decorated with red everywhere you look, and they hosted a chapel day where we learned all about how the Asian boarding students celebrate the New Year. Flik Dining Services also had a lunch that had traditional food from the Lunar New Year. All of these traditions and stories are practiced every year and are religiously looked upon. The legend of Nian explains how all of these traditions were created and explains why these countries celebrate this way.