1. Feb 8: http://www.ibtimes.co.

uk/chinese-new-year-2016-when-it-what-doesyear-monkey-mean-1541258
a. This year will welcome in the year of the monkey, part of an ancient
tradition in which the Chinese zodiac attaches animal signs to each
lunar year in a cycle of 12 years. The Chinese zodiac is separated into
12 blocks, each of which have a time-length of one year instead of one
month like the western equivalent. The monkey is the ninth animal in
the cycle, which will not take place again until 2028. Next year will
mark the year of the rooster.
2. Feb 9: http://www.history.com/topics/holidays/chinese-new-year
a. The Chinese New Year, or Spring Festival as its been called since the
20th century, remains the most important social and economic holiday
in China. Originally tied to the lunar-solar Chinese calendar, the holiday
was a time to honor household and heavenly deities as well as
ancestors. It was also a time to bring family together for feasting.
3. Feb 10: http://www.history.com/topics/holidays/chinese-new-year-traditions
a. Aside from New Years Eve, there are other important days of the 15day New Year Festival.
4. Feb 11: http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/chinese-new-year-2015-chunyun-largestannual-human-migration-world-1488516
a. Chunyun, the world's largest annual human migration, is underway
with hundreds of millions of people travelling home across China for
the new year. The Spring Festival travel season lasts for 40 days,
emptying the country's biggest cities and bringing rural villages to life.
As workers travel home, China's roads, train stations and airports are
hotspots for congestion, with government predictions showing 3.6
billion people will travel across the country.
5. Feb 12: http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/whats-on/whats-on-news/chinese-newyear-2016-7-10818152
a. Traditions differ, but the main message of Chinese New Year is for
families to come together and wish each other peace and prosperity
for the year ahead. On Chinese New Years Eve, families will gather
together for the family reunion dinner and gifts are exchanged.
6. Feb 13: http://www.chinahighlights.com/travelguide/special-report/chinesenew-year/new-year-dragon-dance.htm
a. The dragon dance and the lion dance have been indispensable to
Chinese festivals since ancient times. With the spread of Chinese
people and culture all over the world, the dragon dance has been
brought to every corner of the wolrd where there are overseas Chinese
gathered. It has become a symbol of Chinese culture.
7. Feb 14: http://www.chinahighlights.com/travelguide/festivals/chinese-newyear-greetings.htm
a. Chinese New Year 2016 will take place from February 8 to 22. During
the Lunar New Year period Chinese people greet one another with
unique sayings when they meet, where ordinarily they would not greet
people with whom they do not have a personal relationship.
8. Feb 15: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/photo-essays/2016-02-05/how-tocelebrate-chinese-new-year

a. In the largest annual migration on the planet, hundreds of millions of

Chinese are travelling to their hometowns to celebrate the Lunar New
Year, also called the Spring Festival or simply the Chinese New Year.
The ultimate objective? Spending precious time with family, feasting
on traditional foods while assessing the past year and seeking good
fortune for the year ahead. So how do Chinese celebrate this special
time? Let's take a look through a camera lens.
9. Feb 16:
http://www.gochengdoo.com/en/blog/item/3051/spring_festival_knowledge_th
e_beauty_and_subtlety_of_the_chinese_couplet
a. The history of the Chinese couplet can be traced back thousands of
years, and like Tang-dynasty poetry, Chinese couplets are considered
to be subtle and deep. Couplets follow a set structure: Each consists of
two lines of verse, the "head" and the "tail," which correspond with
each other in part of speech, phonology and syntax, word for word and
phrase for phrase. The themes of the verses suggest good luck and
wishes for happiness.
10.Feb 17: http://www.vietnamonline.com/tet.html
a. Tet is the occasion for Vietnamese to express their respect and
remembrance for their ancestors as well as welcoming the New Year
with their beloved family members. Moreover, in the past, Tet was
essential as it provided one of few long breaks during the agricultural
year, which was held between the harvesting of the crops and the
sowing of the next ones. To make it easier, one can imagine Tet as a
combination of Christmas and New Year: every family will get together
to have big meals, decorate Tet trees and eat Tet food but to welcome
the new year instead of a religious cause.
11.Feb 18: http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/ATR/SI_EN_3_6.jsp?cid=941952
a. Seollal (Lunar New Year; January 1 of the lunar calendar) is one of the
most celebrated national holidays in Korea. While many observe
Sinjeong (Solar New Year; January 1 of the Gregorian/Western
calendar), most Koreans celebrate Seollal, which usually lasts for three
days (the day of, the day before, and the day after). This year, Seollal
falls on February 8 of the Gregorian calendar.
12.Feb 19: http://www.chinesenewyearfestival.org/culture/19-the-story-ofchinese-new-yeara. There are many legends that are part of the Chinese culture. Many of them exemplify
moral lessons, not so different from Aesop and his fables. One story in particular is the
story of Chinese New Years.

13.Feb 20:
14.Feb 21:
15.Feb 22: http://www.travelchinaguide.com/essential/holidays/lantern.htm
a. Falling on the 15th day of the first lunar month, Lantern Festival is the
first significant feast after Spring Festival, so called because the most
important activity during the night of the event is watching various
wonderful Chinese lanterns. And because every household eats
yuanxiao (a rice ball stuffed with different fillings) on that day, it is
called Yuan Xiao Festival. For its rich and colorful activities, it is

regarded as the most recreational among all the Chinese festivals and
a day for appreciating the bright full moon, and family reunion.