Monday marks the first day of the Year of the Monkey and the weeklong holiday, which is like the equivalent to Christmas for many in the West.
Advertisement
The Chinese Zodiac, known as Sheng Xiao, runs on a 12-year cycle, calculated by the lunar calendar, and each year is represented by a different animal. Other monkey years in recent history were 2004, 1992, 1980, 1968 and 1956.
Between now and then, Philadelphians can look forward to other events and festivities celebrating Chinese culture as the Year of the Monkey begins.
A lion dance marks the beginning of the Chinese New Year. (Manan Vatsyayana/AFP/Getty Images) An Ethnic Malaysian-Chinese devotee burns joss-sticks at the Thean Hou temple decorated with red lanterns in Kuala Lumpur on February 7, 2016, on the eve of the Lunar New Year.
HK: We often celebrate the Lunar New Year with special radish cakes (Loh Baak Go) or glutinous rice cakes (Nin Go), which in traditional Chinese custom is associated with good fortune for the upcoming year. The next Year of the Monkey will be in 2028.
The Chinese New Year is also a time for families to be together.
In Surubaya, Indonesia, Cai Shen Ye, god of wealth, also handed out red envelopes of money to devotees during the New Year’s celebrations at Hong San Ko Tee Temple.
Every Chinese New Year, believers in feng shui seek ancient wisdom to find out what the future holds – and that even applies to the 2016 presidential election.
China has spent heavily on the high-speed railway network which is already the world’s largest, making it more convenient for riders to travel.
Celebrations included traditional fancy dress, martial arts displays, dragon dancing, lion dancing, decorations and more.
There is thought to be nearly 1 million people with Chinese ancestry living in Australia. People born in the Year of the Monkey are characterized as intelligent, witty, curious and playful. “I therefore wish to take this opportunity to express my honest and heartfelt thanks to all those who have made a contribution, big or small, one way or another to the smooth advancement of China-Zambia friendly relations in the past year”, said Ambassador Yang.
He told the M.E.N: “We’re very proud of our Chinese community”.
Advertisement
“One of the greatest things about our multicultural nation is that we can all enjoy everyone else’s festivals and fun”, he said in a Facebook post.
