Chinese Lunar New Year in New York
Chinese Lunar New Year in New York
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Chinese Lunar New Year in New York
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Chinese Lunar New Year in New York
January 2008
Dragons, clashing cymbals, colourful costumes, firecrackers and good family fun are all yours for the taking if you visit Chinatown on the first day of their New Year celebrations. A parade leaves the corner of Mott St and Canal St at midday and you can walk with the performers as they dance among the markets of Chinatown. This opening day of celebrations is in aid of “welcoming the gods of the heavens and earth.” If you want to make sure you start the celebrations right, then eat an entire fish for supper, which for the Chinese represents togetherness and abundance, and don’t cut up your noodles, for in their length they represent long life.
Stepping into Manhattan’s Chinatown is uncannily like being transported to China itself and never more so than at the start of the lunar new year when it is filled to bursting point with families stocking up on foods for the celebrations. The neighbourhood used to be one of the largest Chinese communities in the West and, though many have since moved out to the suburbs of Queens and Brooklyn, this is still the heart of New York’s Chinese population and also where all the excellent food markets, restaurants and shops are.
Location
Mott Street, Chinatown
Hours
Parade starts at 12PM
Admission
Free
About Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year, or Spring Festival or the Lunar New Year, is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. It is an important holiday in East Asia. The festival proper begins on the first day of the first lunar month in the Chinese calendar and ends on the 15th; this day is called the Lantern festival. Chinese New Year’s Eve is known as Chúxì. Chu literally means “change” and xi means “Eve”.
Celebrated in areas with large populations of ethnic Chinese, Chinese New Year is considered a major holiday for the Chinese and has had a strong influence on the new year celebrations of its neighbours. These include Koreans, Mongolians, Nepalese, Bhutanese, Vietnamese, and formerly the Japanese before 1873.
In Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and other countries with significant Chinese populations, Chinese New Year is also celebrated, largely by overseas Chinese, but it is not part of the traditional culture of these countries. In Thailand, for example, the true New Year celebration of the ethnic Thais is Songkran, which is totally different and is celebrated in April.
Contact
+1-212-431-9740 
