Lunar New Year Celebrations around Asia

This is the time of the year where most of Asia celebrates the Lunar New Year holidays. Officially, Lunar New Year begins on 18th February and that's the 1st day of the Year of the Pig. My good friend, Phill likes to call it the Year of the Boar, this is his special year too. Those born in the year of the Pig are highly regarded for their chilvary and pureness of heart, and often make friends for life.

The Lunar New Year is the most significant festival for ethnic Chinese around the world, wherever they come from. It is a very jubilant occasion mainly because it is the time when people take a break from work to get together with family and friends.

Chinese New Year is also the time of the the largest human migration, when overseas Chinese all around the world travel home to have reunion dinners with their families on Chinese New Year's eve. Well, for me it is a 45-minutes drive to my parents house around the East Coast of Singapore. In Chinese tradition, sons will return home together with their families to have reunion with the parents.

In Singapore, we celebrate the Chinese New Year and two websites that might be of interest to you - Visit Singapore and Chingay 2007.

This year the Lunar New Year starts on 18th February. A statutory holiday is added on the following work day when the New Year falls on a weekend.Countries with sizeable chinese population celebrate as a public holiday:

China - the 1st seven days

Taiwan - the 1st five days

Hong Kong - the 1st three days

Macau - the 1st three days
Singapore - the 1st 2 days

Malaysia - the 1st 2 days

Indonesia - the 1st day

Brunei - the 1st day

Other countries:
The Vietnamese, Koreans and Mongolians also celebrate their Lunar New Year on the same day as the Chinese calendar.

The Vietnamese New Year is called Tết, and is a three-days holiday.
Korea celebrates the 1st 3 days of the Lunar New Year (called Seol-nal).
Mongolia also celebrates the 1st three days of the Lunar New Year (called Tsagaan Sar).