Collection: Lunar New Year

Lunar New Year is a celebration of the arrival of spring and the beginning of a new year based on lunar calendar which observes the monthly cycles of the Moon's phases.  It is the most important holiday in many Asian countries including China, South Korea, Vietnam, and countries with a significant overseas Chinese population. 

This year, 2024, marks the Year of the Dragon.  Each year in the lunar calendar is named after an animal, derived from Chinese folklore. The zodiac animals follow one another in an established order and are repeated every 12 years: dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog, pig, rat, ox, tiger, and rabbit.  

Lunar New Year is a fifteen-day celebration marked by many traditions. At home, families decorate windows with red paper cuttings and adorn doors with couplets expressing auspicious wishes for the new year. The Lunar New Year’s Eve reunion dinner is the highlight that kicks off the holiday, a feast with a spread of symbolic dishes, such as a whole fish representing abundance, that bring good luck and fortune. The fifteenth and final day of the holiday is the Lantern Festival, during which people have tangyuan, or sweet glutinous rice balls, and children carry lanterns around the neighborhood at night to mark the end of the celebration.