Chinese+New+Year

=__//Chinese New Year//__=

==== The Chinese New Year starts with the first New Moon on the first day of the new year and ends on the next full moon which is 15 days later. The 15th day (or the last day) of the New Year is a special holiday which is called the Lantern Festival. This fantastic holiday is celebrated at night with amazing lantern displays and little children carrying lanterns in a big parade. ====

==== New Year's Eve and New Year's Day are celebrated as a family affair. Its also a time of reunion in families and it can also be considered a very heartfelt thanksgiving. This celebration was traditionally highlighted with a very religious ceremony given in honor of "The Heavens" and "The Earth", also called the gods of the family ancestors (The Heavens) and the household (The Earth). ====

==== The Chinese calendar is based on a combination of lunar and solar movements. The lunar cycle is about 29.5 days. In order for the lunar calendar to "catch up" with the solar calendar, the Chinese insert an extra month once every few years (seven years out of a 19-year cycle). This is pretty much the same concept as adding an extra day on leap year. This explains why, according to the solar calendar, the Chinese New Year falls on a different date each year. ====

==== The sacrifice to the ancestors, the most vital of all the rituals, united the living members with those who had passed away. Departed relatives are remembered with great respect because they were responsible for laying the foundations for the fortune and glory of the family. ====

==== The presence of the ancestors is acknowledged on New Year's Eve with a dinner arranged for them at the family banquet table. The spirits of the ancestors, together with the living, celebrate the onset of the New Year as one great community. The communal feast called "surrounding the stove" or weilu in Chinese. It symbolizes family unity and honors the past and present generations. ====