Howard Cheng: Why we should stop saying “Chinese New Year” as a catch-all term?
Posted in Opinion4 mn readThis coming weekend will see many celebrate “Chinese New Year” on Sunday 22 January 2023. What many people know as “Chinese New Year” is celebrated by those in Mainland China, but it is not an exclusive Chinese festival. Many East Asian cultures celebrate the New Year falling on the same day as “Chinese New Year” – for example the Taiwanese, Vietnamese, Koreans. Mongolians and Tibetans also celebrate a festival based on the progress of the moon through the cosmos, with the Mongolian New Year (Tsagaan Sar) and the Tibetan New Year (Losar) falling on or around the same day as “Chinese New Year”. This year, Tsagaan Sar and Losar will fall on 21 January 2023 whilst “Chinese New Year” is on the day after that. In 2024, “Chinese New Year”, Tsagaan Sar and Losar will all fall on 10 February 2024.
