Chinese New Year

By Paayal Mahajan, staff writer

Having a hard time sticking to your New Year's resolutions? Thinking about giving up on some?

Here's another opportunity for you to re-make your resolutions and stick to them. Chinese New Year is on February 18th this year. It marks the beginning of the Year of the Pig. The festival is celebrated for two whole weeks. It is the oldest and most traditional of Chinese celebrations.

Here are some cool things about Chinese New Year you probably didn't know:

• People start preparing for this celebration months in advance. Houses are cleaned thoroughly before New Year's Day. It is considered bad luck to sweep or use a broom on New Year's Day, since you might be sweeping away the good luck that the New Year brings in.
  
  
• Red is considered the luckiest color, and people wear red to bring in good luck. Wearing red guarantees good health and success in the New Year.
  
  
• How you look and behave on New Year's Day will set the tone for the rest of your year.
  
  
• Children and unmarried friends are given small red envelopes with money in them (called Lai See), for good fortune.
  
  
• Firecrackers are symbolic of sending away the old year and welcoming the new.

Find out what your Chinese sign is by clicking here (PDF, 524KB).