As the end of February nears, it also marks the end of Lunar New Year, also known as the Spring Festival. It symbolizes the official ending of winter and the beginning of spring. 

Families start the holiday season with “Little Year.” During this time, people celebrate by performing prayers and ‘sweeping’ away any bad luck. 

Followers also hang red decorations around the house since red is considered a lucky color, and give each other red envelopes with money in them.  

“I find the fact that people give money on Lunar New Year and I find the decorations very interesting. Even if our get-togethers might look different right now it is still a time to focus on our loved ones and celebrate the upcoming arrival of spring and new beginnings,” said WJPS junior Eleana Kostakis. 

There are seven lucky foods that are customary for the Lunar New Year. 

These foods are fish, dumplings, spring rolls, tangyuan, or sweet rice balls, good fortune fruit, Niangoa, or glutinous rice cakes and longevity noodles. 

These foods represent wealth, family togetherness, prosperity, fullness, higher income or position, and a long life. 

Ms. Oldenburg, a teacher at WJPS said, “What I love about Chinese New Year is the focus on family and feasting!” 

This year, we celebrate the Year of the Bull. It is one of the 12 animals celebrated on the zodiac calendar and stands for being conscientious, reliable, strong, and trustworthy. 

The Lunar New Year comes to an end on February 26th during the Lantern Festival. 

“Chinese New Year of the Rat outfit on the Bullring Bull” by Ell Brown is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0