Chinese New Year Celebrations Worldwide

Every year, China Central Television (CCTV) holds a special on Lunar New Year's Eve, featuring dances, songs, and short comedies. This year, the gala will be characterized by another theme: unity and the courage of the Chinese people to cope with the snow disaster.

Millions of Chinese had to say "sorry" to their loved ones on Wednesday as the nation geared up to greet the Lunar New Year's Eve. Some had to abandon their trips home because of the worst winter in at least 50 years.
    More than 12 million migrant workers chose to stay put in southern Guangdong Province, which has about 30 million such workers, according to the Guangdong Provincial Department of Labor and Social Security.

    In Shenzhen, neighboring Hong Kong, about 2 million migrant workers expressed a willingness to stay, and in the financial center of Shanghai, about 120,000 migrant workers chose not to go home.

Shanghai positively explodes with vibrant red during Chinese New Year (also known as Chinese Spring Festival) in a plethora of lantern shows, dragon dances, outdoor bazaars and spectacular incessant firework displays. In 2008 Chinese New Year begins on 7 February and culminates with the Lantern Festival on 21 February. The best way to enjoy the festivities is to head to a miaohui (temple fair) for all manner of entertainment, from folk dances and martial arts performances to historical re-enactments.

This year, Disneyland Hong Kong asked designer Vivienne Tam to make Chinese New Year outfits for Mickey and Minnie Mouse to boost the appeal of the theme park, following a dismal second year of business. The pair will strut down the red carpet: Mickey in a bright red Mao suit and Minnie in a red cherry blossom dress.

"Our mission is to connect the local culture with mainland China and Hong Kong," said Hong Kong Disneyland Managing Director Bill Ernest.

Decorated floats, performers, street entertainers, music and dance take over the harbourfront, spilling out into the streets throughout the city, which is festooned in its finest garb every year. The skyscrapers are bedecked in thousands of glittering lights and you'll see a spectacular variety of seasonal symbols which confer good fortune and happiness, while the sounds of "Kung Hei Fat Choy" and other warm wishes reverberate through the streets. Fireworks over Victoria Harbour mark the end of the parade.

As Chinese New Year falls on Feb. 7,many of the residents in Jakarta, capital of Indonesia, regardless of their ethnicity, are busy shopping and their the most favorite items are Chinese New Year's decorations in the city's Chinatown, or known as Glodok in West Jakarta.

This is part of the Chinese New Year festivities in recent years. The festivities have been greeted with a great deal of hype in the capital city as well as other cities in the country.

"I love buying Chinese lanterns because I feel serene when I look at them," the Jakarta Post daily on Wednesday quoted Rini, a housewife from Cibubur in East Jakarta as saying.

Chinese New Year, or Chun Jie, which literally means Spring Festival, celebrates the coming of spring and a fresh start to one’s life.
The Spring Festival is also called Nian, after the legend of the Nian monster.  At the begining of the first month of the lunar calendar, the monster would come down from the mountains to hunt villagers. To conquer this monster, they would beat drums and gongs, burn bamboo and light fireworks to scare it away.

Featuring 2,500 performers including 600 people and floats from China’s historic Shaanxi Province and local Chinese community groups, this year’s Parade promises to be the most exciting yet with a newly extended route and a concert to finish in Tumbalong Park, Darling Harbour.

For the first time the Parade will be divided into themes and colours representing key elements within Sydney’s Chinese community. New floats, more performers with beautiful costumes and the huge Chinese New Year lanterns, will make this an event to remember.

The streets of London will come alive with an array of dragons, musicians,
artists, school children and acrobats from China and across the country in
the parade.

The Chinese Community has a long tradition in Ireland and especially in Dublin, starting back in the 1950’s when many will remember the first Chinese Restaurants such as the ‘Universal’, ‘Luna’ and ‘Sunflower’. From those small beginnings, a wide and diverse Chinese Community has grown with residents settled here from all parts of China. We are proud to bring you this colourful festival that includes many cultural features and community activities for Dublin City.

The Chinese Community Development Partnership has privilege in obtaining assistance from the Chinese-Consulate in Edinburgh to invite a troupe of 42 students from Beijing, China to tour Scotland to showcase their talents to the Chinese community and the general public during Chinese New Year 2008.

Celebrate the Year of the Rat with one of these events/goings-on. From the S.F. Zoo to a local restaurant favorite, there's something cool to do to commemorate the day and first new moon.

Chinese New Year 2008 begins February 2 and continues through February 24. The official date of the Lunar New Year is February 7 and the Chinese New Year Parade will take place February 23.

From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., the San Francisco Zoo will be all about the Chinese New Year and celebrating the arrival of Year of the Rat. A day of fun for the entire family, the zoo will feature music, dancing, crafts, and docent tours highlighting animals of the Chinese Zodiac (in both Mandarin and English).

Held on the first Sunday of the Chinese (Lunar) New Year. Celebrating the arrival of spring and the Year of the Rooster with thousands at the biggest parade through Chinatown, lions, storytelling and crafts, lucky red packets and much more for the whole family from 10:00am - 4:30pm.

Happy Year of the Rat! We celebrate the Year of the Rat with Lion dance, Chinese sing alongs, Chinese Children orchestra, traditional music and dance and new years delicaties!