Lunar New Year, often called the Spring Festival or Chinese New Year, is the most important holiday in China and Chinese communities around the world. It is not only celebrated in China. Vietnam, Korea, Malaysia, and Singapore also celebrate the Lunar New Year holiday. The two-week celebration includes family and friends, feasting and fireworks, parties and parades.

For more than 3,000 years, Lunar New Year was just what it sounds like—the beginning of a new year in the Chinese calendar. The historic Chinese calendar is a lunisolar calendar, meaning dates are determined by both the moon (lunar) and the sun (solar). Months begin with every new moon, when the moon is not visible in the night sky. The new year starts on the new moon nearest the midpoint between the winter solstice and the spring equinox, sometime between January 21 and February 20.

China officially adopted the Gregorian calendar, used by the West, in 1912. In the late 20th century, however, the holiday was reintroduced as the “Spring Festival.”

Although there is rarely a set “program” for Lunar New Year celebrations, some days are associated with specific rituals or festivities. Read through some highlights below.

Before New Year

Prior to the official start of the holiday, Chinese households are thoroughly cleaned. Cleaning symbolizes ridding the household of the previous year’s bad luck and making the home welcoming to good luck in the coming year. On the first several days of the festival, tradition holds that brooms be stored, so that the newly arrived good luck will not be swept away.

The days or weeks leading up to Lunar New Year are also when communities begin to decorate with red: fresh red paint on the doors of businesses and homes, red paper cut-out decorations, red lanterns. Red is the color of joy and good fortune in Chinese cultures, and is most strongly associated with new year celebrations.

One of the traditional ways to begin celebrating the Lunar New Year is the “reunion dinner,” when families gather to celebrate hopes for the new year.

During the New Year Celebrations

How do you wish someone “happy new year” in Chinese? It depends on who you’re talking to. In China, the official language is Mandarin. Gong xi fa cai is how Mandarin-speakers wish you a happy new year—literally “wishing you to be prosperous in the coming year.” Many overseas Chinese communities speak Cantonese. Gung hay fat choy is how Cantonese speakers wish you a happy new year—literally “wishing you great happiness and prosperity.”

Some of the most common celebrations during the Lunar New Year festival include parties, firecrackers, and the famous lion dance familiar to Western audiences. During the first days of the Lunar New Year, younger family members may begin receiving bright red envelopes full of money. These envelopes, known as hong bao (Mandarin) or lai see (Cantonese), are traditionally given to unmarried adults and children.

The third day of the Lunar New Year is often quieter and more somber than those preceding it. It is considered bad luck to visit friends or family, or play host to visitors yourself. This day is usually reserved for honoring deceased relatives by visiting graves or lighting incense or paper offerings in memory of loved ones.

Often times the seventh day of the Lunar New Year recognizes renri, the creation day of human beings. To honor humanity’s connection to all living things.

The ninth day of Lunar New Year is recognized as the birthday of the Jade Emperor, the ruler of heaven in Taoist belief.

The beautiful Lantern Festival signals a close to the Lunar New Year festival. Paper lanterns light the way for lion dances and all-day parades and festivals. The bright lights of the Lantern Festival celebrate the first full moon after the Lunar New Year. The colorful lanterns, displayed outdoors as well as inside temples, are associated with guiding lost souls home and were originally created by monks to honor the Buddha.