2012 looks like it is going to be an eventful year, with the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the Olympic Games. Although our own New Year celebrations are well behind us now, January 23rd heralds the Chinese New Year and here at Lights4Fun our MD Tim has recently been in China, which has got us thinking about Chinese New Year celebrations.

The Chinese New Year is the most important Chinese festival and is a time of celebration, feasting, street performances, fireworks and gift-giving. The Chinese calendar follows a 12 year cycle, with each year named after an animal; it is believed you have the character traits of the animal in whose year you were born. This year, we wave goodbye to the Rabbit and welcome in the year of the Dragon – the luckiest of all the animals. Those born in the year of the Dragon are considered to be confident, energetic, hard working, loyal, popular and fun loving. Here in the office we’ll be checking our Chinese year of birth to see how well we all fit the descriptions!

Customs vary in different parts of the world, but traditionally it is a time when families come together to celebrate a new start in peace and happiness. Interestingly, London hosts the largest celebrations for the Chinese New Year outside Asia. Similar to our Christmas traditions, families in China put up lights outside their home and create a festive ambience with gold and red scented candles. In Chinese culture the colour red is seen as a symbol of luck and prosperity, and is believed to fend off evil spirits; so families often give windows and doors a new coat of red paint in preparation for the start of the New Year.

Celebrations last for 15 days, ending on the date of the first full moon with the ‘Festival of Lanterns’ or ‘Yuan-Xiao’. Houses are decorated with paper lanterns and street performances and parades bring a cheerful atmosphere to end the Chinese New Year celebrations with music and dancing. The colourful lanterns are hung on local temples and in the evening people gather together holding up the lanterns to create a fantastic spectacle of light.

Have a look at our very own multi coloured LED Solar Chinese Lanterns which are ideal to light up your garden or patio. We have them in  purple, red, white and yellow .

‘Kung Hei Fat Choy’ – Happy New Year!