!!! Happy Chinese New Year !!! !!! Gongxi Facai !!!

Does anyone know which day the New Year Day falls on in America? 1 SunMonTuWedThuFriSat February

Chinese New Year is based on the lunar calendar and the changes of nature in the spring. How About Chinese New Year? SunMonTuWedThuFriSat February SunMonTueWedThuFriSat January It never falls on the same day. The first day of the lunar New Year can be anywhere between January 20 and February 19.

The Chinese Lunar Cycle Chinese Lunar cycle is based on a 12 year repeating cycle. Each astrological animal symbol represents not a month, but a year. Unlike the Western calendar that is based upon the movements of the sun, the Chinese astrological calendar has its deep and ancient roots in the movement of the moon.

Chinese Zodiac TIGER RABBIT ROOSTER Who knows what animal is this year? OX How many of you know what animal represents the year that you were born in?

Chinese Zodiac RAT OXTIGER RABBIT DRAGONSNAKEHORSEGOAT MONKEYROOSTERDOGPIG There are many myths and legends about how the 12 animals representing the 12 years in a lunar cycle came into being. One of the most popular is that the Lord Buddha called all the animals to come to him before he died. Only 12 animals came. The Rat was riding on the back of the Ox crossing the final river, but … Following them were the Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig. As a reward he named a lunar year after each animal according to the order in which it arrived. the Rat jumped down in front and became the first.

Chinese New Year Celebration Chinese New Year is the most important holiday to Chinese. Families get together Bright new clothes Cleaned and decorated house Yummy food

Chinese New Year Preparation Houses are cleaned inside and out to “sweep away any traces of bad luck.” Doors and windows are decorated with paper cutouts and Spring Couplets which are short poems written in Chinese expressing words of: Happiness, Wealth, Longevity.

Chinese New Year's Eve Chinese New Year’s Eve is celebrated like Thanksgiving in the US. One of the best part of the Chinese New Year celebration is a big dinner for the entire family. The New Year’s feast take many days to prepare. Eating a meal together on New Year’s Eve shows the importance of family unity. Preparing New Year’s Eve dinner is fun. Some New Year snack is prepare before New Year.

Chinese New Year's Eve At midnight following the big dinner, the younger members of the family would bow and pay their respects to their parents and elders. Parents and elders give them red packets and wish them do better in school and grow big and strong.

Staying Up All Night to Welcome in The New Year Children are allowed to stay up as late as they want. It’s a fun and exciting night when families sit up late into the night playing games. Fireworks light up the sky.

Handing Out Red Packets Younger members of the family pay their respects to their living elders. Parents give their children Red Envelopes filled with good luck money. Married adults give children and unmarried adults money in red envelopes.

The New Year and The Story of Nian One of the most spectacular sights during the New Year festival is the dragon and lion dance. Have you seen dragon or lion dance before?

The New Year and The Story of Nian The origin of the festival dance can be traced back to a legend about Nian. Nian is a cruel and ferocious dragon monster that came out the night before the new year to devour people in the villages with his great big month.

The New Year and The Story of Nian One time an old man came to rescue these people by telling Nian that rather than eating these people he should eat the other monsters that frighten them. So, Nian started to swallow other monsters instead of these people.

The New Year and The Story of Nian It turns out that the old man was an immortal god. Before the old man rode away on Nian’s back, he told the people that Nian is afraid of the color red.

The New Year and The Story of Nian So, every year Chinese people celebrate New Year by putting up red paper and setting off firecrackers to scare away the horrible beast. He told the people to put up red decorations on their windows and doors to scare him away in case he came back.

Happy New Year In America, we say Happy New Year on the New Year Day. Traditionally, Chinese New Year celebration lasts for 15 days, during these New Year days, they usually greet each other by saying: “Gongxi” “Facai” “Gongxi Facai” (Meaning “Wishing you prosperity!”)

The name of the movie is called "Sam and the Lucky Money" It's a really nice story about a little boy who tries to decide what to do with his red packet money. Now, it’s movie time !!!