Chinese New Year 2025: The year of the snake

Dragon dancers perform at a park on the first day of the Lunar New Year of Snake in Beijing on January 29, 2025. (Photo by GREG BAKER/AFP via Getty Images)

Get your red envelopes ready!

Jan. 29 marks the beginning of Chinese New Year, which is also known as Lunar New Year.

How long does Chinese New Year last?

By the numbers:

Chinese New Year celebrates the beginning of the lunar calendar, and that typically falls between Jan. 21 and Feb. 20, according to The University of Sydney. 

Chinese New Year begins with the first new moon of the lunar calendar and ends 15 days later. 

This year, the last day of the Chinese New Year celebrations is on Feb. 12 and is usually marked with a lantern festival in Chinese culture.  

2025 is the year of the snake

The backstory:

The Chinese zodiac is based on a 12-year cycle, according to ChineseNewYear.net.

Each year is represented by a different animal. 

This year, 2025, happens to be the year of the snake. Last year was the year of the dragon. 

Dig deeper:

Snakes are viewed with both fear and reverence in Chinese culture. On the one hand, venomous snakes are associated with darkness. But in Chinese mythology, snakes are also known as "little dragons," and the skin they shed is known as "the dragon’s coat," symbolizing good luck, rebirth and regeneration. The snake also symbolizes the pursuit of love and happiness. In Chinese culture, they are grouped with the turtle and crane as a symbol of longevity.

This year, merchants in China and elsewhere are producing lanterns, soft toys and other products where the snakes have googly eyes and goofy smiles, so they appear cute and cuddly and don’t scare away young celebrants.

What are those red envelopes? 

Red envelopes filled with money are traditionally handed out to children, family, friends and even employees as a symbol of good luck while entering the new year, according to USA Today. 

Red is associated with good energy, good luck and happiness, hence the red envelopes. 

Chinese New Year traditions

Big picture view:

It’s estimated that two billion people around the globe celebrate Chinese New Year.

In China, many families thoroughly clean their homes days before the Chinese New Year begins. This is usually done to rid homes of bad luck, according to Britannica. Food, trinkets and paper offerings are also extended to ancestors or deities, as well as fruit, tea, sculptures, incense and candles.

Other celebration rituals include hanging lucky scroll messages, setting off firecrackers or fireworks, eating long noodles and dumplings with symbolic meanings and exchanging cash gifts.

Neighboring countries in Asia have developed their own Lunar New Year celebrations that were influenced by the ancient Chinese calendar, including Vietnam (aka "Tet"), Tibet (aka "Losar") and North Korea and South Korea (aka "Seollal").

Japan is one of the rare exceptions that celebrates the new year according to the Gregorian calendar, on Jan 1.

The Source: Information for this article was gathered from previous LiveNOW from FOX reporting, ChineseNewYear.net and The Associated Press. This story was reported from Los Angeles. 

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