Chinese New Year 2022 Dates

Chinese New Year celebrations last over two weeks, and are marked with a week-long public holiday in China.

When is Chinese New Year 2022?

Chinese New Year falls on Tuesday 1 February this year.

In China, celebrations last for 16 days, starting on the eve of the New Year and finishing on the 15th day, on which the Yuan Xiao Festival takes place. This is when people release thousands of paper lanterns into the sky.

The first week of festivities – from 1-7 February this year – is also a national public holiday in China.

How is Chinese New Year celebrated?

While it is unclear exactly when new year celebrations began in China, it is believed to have originated as early as 2,300BC with Emperors Yao and Shun.

At first the holiday was marked between mid-winter and early spring, however it soon adopted the solar calendar and relied on the moon phase to lock down the date.

One of the most famous traditional greetings for Chinese New Year is the Cantonese kung hei fat choi, literally meaning: “Greetings, become rich.”

Wishing all is well.