Five cool facts about Chinese New Year

Happy Chinese New Year! 恭喜發財!

Happy Year of the Monkey! Yesterday was the first day of Chinese New Year and what better way to celebrate than to learn some fun facts the festival?

1. Chinese New Year is the largest human migration in the history of mankind according to researchers [ 1 2 3 ]. This mass migration known as “chunyun” (春運) is the largest human migration in the history of humanity, and it increases by 5% every year! Last year, 3.2 billion trips were recorded during the Chinese New Year festivities due to the several hundred million Chinese making the journey home to celebrate the New Year with loved ones.

2. Although there were many versions of the calendar (based off different aspects such as seasons or the lunar cycle) since the Qin dynasty in 200 BC, the current Chinese Calendar follows the Shíxiàn (時憲) calendar brought into standard in China by the Ming dynasty in the 14th century [ 1 2 ]

3. It is said that the most commonly eaten meat during Chinese New Year is fish [ 1 2 ] ! In Chinese, the term for “fish” sounds very similar to the word for “surplus.” Therefore, it is traditional to eat fish in China on New Years as a symbolic gesture to the future of having surplus amount of goods and fortune.

4. In contrast to the West, the colour red has a more positive connotation (e.g. in Europe it is often associated with anger or violence, while in China it is associated with nobility and happiness) [ 1 2 ]. The colour red was also the second most expensive dye to produce as it needed a combination of the Safflower and Sorghum plants. The most expensive was purple, which was the most expensive and traditionally only meant for the emperor and highest officers. Most nobles therefore wore red, as a symbol of happiness and success.

5. Fireworks were invented in China during the 12th century to ward off evil spirits. Right now, China is the largest manufacturer and exporter of fireworks in the world [ 1 2 ]. During the Chinese New Year is one of the world’s largest use of fireworks, just short of the worldwide celebrations of the 1st of January.