The most important festival in China — Chinese New Year — is right around the corner. In this article, we’ll tell you everything you need to know about this event. Read until the end — a special offer is waiting for you there!
When is Chinese New Year 2022?
In 2022, Chinese New Year (called the Spring Festival in China) falls on February 1. Typically, this holiday is celebrated on the second New Moon after the winter solstice, and this year is not an exception.
What is the Chinese New Year 2022 animal?
In China, each year in a 12-year zodiac cycle is represented by a particular animal: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, or Pig. According to the Chinese zodiac, 2022 is the Year of the Tiger. People born this year are supposed to be brave, confident, and competitive — like tigers.
When is Chinese New Year?
Every year, Chinese New Year falls on different dates, but it always occurs at the New Moon between January 21 and February 20.
Why does the holiday’s date change from year to year? While in Western countries, the Gregorian solar calendar is used to mark the traditional holidays, Chinese people use their own lunisolar calendar with an occasional extra month.
How does the Chinese lunar calendar work?
Although the traditional Chinese calendar is often referred to as a lunar calendar, it is, in fact, a hybrid of lunar and solar calendars. It means that it takes into account both the Moon’s orbit around the Earth and the Earth’s orbit around the Sun.
In the Chinese calendar, the synodic month is used. It is the period the Moon takes to revolve around the Earth once relative to the Sun. The synodic month lasts from the New Moon to the next New Moon and equals 29.53 days. If you multiply this number by 12 months, you’ll get 354 days per year, which is 11 days less than it takes our planet to revolve around the Sun.
The Chinese wanted to fix this inconsistency and synchronize their calendar with the Earth’s movement around the Sun. So once every three years, a 13th month is added to the Chinese calendar. This “leap month” is the reason why Chinese New Year falls on different dates each year in the Gregorian calendar.
How long is Chinese New Year 2022?
In 2022, Chinese New Year celebrations will last for 16 days. They will start with New Year’s Eve on January 31 and end with the Lantern Festival on February 15 — just before the Full Moon (called the Snow Moon in Western cultures). You can learn more about traditional Full Moon names from our infographic. Although, Chinese New Year is celebrated for more than two weeks, only the first seven days (from January 31 to February 6) are considered a public holiday.
Chinese New Year dates and calendar 2022–2033
Here is a calendar with the dates of Chinese New Year for the upcoming 12-year cycle — until the next Year of the Tiger. In brackets, you can see animal signs for each year.
- 2022: February 1 (Tiger)
- 2023: January 22 (Rabbit)
- 2024: February 10 (Dragon)
- 2025: January 29 (Snake)
- 2026: February 17 (Horse)
- 2027: February 6 (Goat)
- 2028: January 26 (Monkey)
- 2029: February 13 (Rooster)
- 2030: February 3 (Dog)
- 2031: January 23 (Pig)
- 2032: February 11 (Rat)
- 2033: January 31 (Ox)
Chinese New Year sale!
We’d like to join the celebration and announce our special offer! From January 31 to February 6, you can get lifetime premium access to our stargazing app Sky Tonight for up to 70% off! Don’t miss your chance — very soon, users will be able to get premium access to the app only via subscription. Of course, if you buy lifetime access to Sky Tonight, you won’t lose it when the app switches to the subscription model.
We wish you clear skies and a happy Chinese New Year!
