Originally posted on February 18, 2007 @ 9:12 am
The Lunar New Year, also celebrated by Koreans, Vietnamese, Mongolian, etc. for hundreds of years, is called Korean New Year, Vietnamese New Year, etc. by other peoples and known in Chinese as the Spring Festival or the Lunar New Year.
It is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays (The second most important one is the Moon Festival).
The festival proper begins on the first day of the first lunar month in the Chinese calendar and ends on the 15th; this day is called Lantern Festival. Lantern Festival is also known as the fifteenth night.
Google is well known for having Dennis Hwang create witty and colorful logos and today is no exception with their tribute to Chinese New Year 2007 – The year of the pig:
Celebrated internationally in areas with large populations of ethnic Chinese, Chinese New Year is considered a major holiday for the Chinese and has had a strong influence on the new year celebrations of its neighbors.
These include Koreans, Vietnamese, Miao (Chinese Hmong), Mongolians, Tibetans, the Nepalese and the Bhutanese.
Around Chinese New Year is also the time of the largest human migration, when overseas Chinese around the world travel home to have reunion dinners with their families on Chinese New Year’s eve.