Happy Lunar New Year!

Today, February 1, 2022 marks the start of the Lunar New Year. Many East Asian countries celebrate this holiday over an extended period of time, filled with lots of delicious meals in the company of family. Some countries celebrate for the day, a few days or until the moon is full! We rounded up a few details to share about the traditions of different cultures.

Many in China celebrate the Lunar New Year, or call it the Chinese New Year. To prepare for the Chinese New Year, families will spend the week before before doing a deep clean of the home, putting up decorations to welcome good luck and deter bad luck by trimming their hair. Many households will include stacks of mandarin oranges for good fortune or apples for safety and decorating in the color red (red envelopes anyone?) and shiny objects (gold everywhere!). As one of the main holidays for the culture, celebrations and time-off usually last for weeks culminating to the Spring Festival, when the moon is full.

In Korean culture, the Lunar New Year is called Seol-Nal (설날). Traditionally, Koreans celebrate for three days - the day before, the Lunar New Year and the day after. During this time, many visit their families, wear traditional hanboks, eat traditional foods and perform ancestral rites. Children perform a formal bow to elders and receive words of wisdom and envelopes of cash.

Tết Festival is celebrated as the Vietnamese New Year with special holiday food and beginning the new year with a deep cleaned home. The holiday is celebrated with large family gatherings, sharing delicious foods, exchanging New Year’s greetings with lucky money to children and elders.

We’re ushering in the Year of the Tiger. According to the Chinese Zodiac calendar, each animal has five elemental variants: metal, earth, fire, wood and water. The Year of the Tiger element is water. We find it fun and entertaining to read up on zodiacs, to see what brings luck! A fun exercise we have once a year! If you’d like to learn more about the Chinese Zodiac calendar you can visit this website.

Happy Lunar New Year from our families to yours! Wishing you and your household safety, health and good fortune. XO