Chinese New Year, also known as the Lunar New Year or the Spring Festival, is celebrated on the first day of the first month of the Chinese calendar, which is usually the day on which the second new moon after the winter solstice occurs. Celebrated internationally, Chinese New Year is the most important holiday of the Chinese people and much of East Asia by Koreans, Vietnamese and others who also have the same new year.

Around the New Year people greet each other with:

• "gong xi fa cai" = "congratulations and be prosperous"
• "x¨©n ni¨¢n ku¨¤i l¨¨"= "Happy New Year"

Traditionally, red packets ('hong bao') are passed out on Chinese New Year's Eve, and then Chinese New Year is celebrated with firecrackers. Dragon dances and lion dances take place in some streets and public places throughout the first few days of the Chinese New Year.

New Year's Eve and New Year's Day are celebrated as a family affair. The families get together during this holiday. The New Year's Eve dinner is very large and traditionally includes chicken. However, the New Year's Day dinner is typically vegetarian.

• nian gao (New Year's Cake: it is believed that the higher the cake rises the better the year will be)
• Jiazi dumplings
• yu sheng, a salad of raw fish (especially popular in Singapore and Malaysia)
• Mandarin oranges (a symbol of wealth and good fortune)
• Red dates bring the hope for prosperity
• whole steamed fish (a symbol of long life and good fortune)
• uncut noodles (a symbol of longevity)
• baked goods with seeds (a symbol of fertility)

The New Year season lasts fifteen days. The first three days are the most important and most often celebrated with visits to friends, family as well as greetings of good luck. The seventh day traditionally is everyone's birthday, the day when everyone grows one year older. The celebrations end on the important and colourful Lantem Festival on the evening of the 15th day of the new moon.

The date is determined by the Chinese calendar, a lunisolar calendar. The same calendar is used in countries that have adopted the Confucian and Buddhism tradition and in many cultures influenced by the Chinese, notably the Koreans, the Tibetans, the Vietnamese and the pagan Bulgars. Chinese New Year starts with the New Moon on the first day of the new year and ends on the full moon 15 days later. The lunar cycle is about 29.5 days. According to the solar calendar, the Chinese New Year falls on a different date each year.
Some Chinese New Year dates (in the Gregorian calendar) are listed below (with pinyin romanization for the animals):

See Chinese zodiac for a list of Chinese New Year dates over the last century.

Mythology
In Chinese mythology, several legends are related to the Chinese new year. Examples include:

• Nian
• Jade Emperor
• Zao Ju