By Lester Williams Jr, Contributing Writer
The Chinese New Year, also known as Spring Festival or Lunar New Year, is an iconic event known worldwide that is celebrated in the Chinese culture.
The popularity of this event has allowed people in places like Florida to expand their knowledge of Chinese culture. For example, non-Chinese people can learn and possibly experience the traditional Chinese Lantern Festival which occurs during the Chinese’s calendars fifteenth day and first mouth.
The Chinese New Year brings multiple Chinese traditions including performances for visitors and the residents of the City of Monterey Park to see and appreciate.
Image via (https://www.montereypark.ca.gov/669/Lunar-New-Year-Festival)
The day of Chinese Lantern Festival is also on the year’s first full moon and in 2022 the date of the festival is on Tuesday, February 15th.
One aspect of Chinese New Year is the importance of the 12 Zodiac signs. These are a group of animals that represent multiple years on a calendar. These signs include a goat, rooster, ox, dragon, rabbit, monkey, rat, dog, horse, and pig.
In the Chinese culture, Zodiac signs are linked to the year a person is born and is connected to a person’s compatibility in romance and their personality.
This year, the Chinese are celebrating the year of the Tiger which started on Tuesday Feb. 1, 2022 and ends on Jan. 21 of the next year.
The tiger is known as the king of all beasts in China. The Zodiac sign, Tiger, is a symbol of strength, exorcising evils, and braveness.
In Florida, multiple Chinese-based celebrations will be happening across the state.
For example, on Sunday Feb. 6, 2022, Tampa Bay will celebrate the Chinese New Year. Due to Tampa Bay’s international population, celebrations of foreign cultures are prompted across the area.
The impact of the Chinese New Year has become so engraved into the Chinese-American society, the Chinese celebration has the potential to become next federal holiday for the country. This is thanks to the support of politicians like New York senator, Grace Meng.
Celebrating the Chinese New Year in places like the City of Monterey Park enables the community to come together and experienece the Chinese culture.
Image via (https://www.montereypark.ca.gov/669/Lunar-New-Year-Festival)
“It really sends a strong signal to the Asian American community — as the fastest-growing population in this country — that they are valued and seen as [part of]the fabric that makes up this country,” Meng claimed in an interview with The Washington Post concerning Chinese New Year becoming the USA’s next public holiday.
With the influence of Chinese culture continuing to spread across America and growing support for a new national holiday, 2023, the year of the Rabbit, could bring with it a new era of Chinese Americans, and non- Chinese people to enjoy this celebration.
