Xīn nián hǎo! - Happy New Year!

Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Chinese have followed the western calendar in most civil matters, and joyfully celebrate the New Year on the 1st of January.

Then again, for centuries, the Chinese have lived according to the ancient Lunar calendar (nónglì 农 历), which is said to have been invented by the great Yellow Emperor when he started his reign in 2637 BCE. According to the lunar calendar, the Chinese New Year - or the Spring Festival (chūnjíe 春 节), as the Chinese call it - can fall on any day between January 20th and February 19th. Most traditional Chinese festivals are still determined by the lunar calendar, and many elderly people even calculate their birthdays according to it.

But, since the Chinese are fun-loving people, they celebrate both the western and the Chinese New Year... Double the party means double the fun!

In Chinese, you can wish Happy New Year by saying Xīn nián hǎo! Xīn is “new”, nián = “year”, hǎo = “good”. Another commonly used phrase at any happy occasion is gōngxǐ fācái!. Gōngxǐ means "to wish", fācái stands for "becoming rich".

In addition to material wealth, the Chinese also wish each other good health and a steady life, which spells in Chinese gōngxǐ ānkāng. Ān = "peace and safe", kāng = "health".

And one more wishful greeting: Wàn shì rú yì! Wàn means “ten thousand”, but in this context it simply stands for A LOT. Shì is “things, matters” and rú yì means “as you wish”. The whole greeting could be translated as “May all things be as you wish!”, or ”May you dreams come true!”

No matter what the name of the festival, the Chinese like to celebrate it by gathering around a dinner table -- preferably together with their family members. During the New Year, western or Chinese, a typical food on Chinese tables would be jiăozi 饺 子, ie. dumplings. If possible, families also prepare the jiăozi together, as cooking and eating together emphasize the unity among family members. In southern parts of China tāngyuán 汤 圆, glutinous rice balls, are also a rather common New Year's food.

The Chinese tend to think that a new year brings along with it a new phase in life, on a personal and a collective level. Therefore, it is time to put old disputes and troubles behind, and wish everybody a Happy New Year. As the story goes, when someone makes a sincere wish and extends it to others, the positive thoughts bounce back at them too, and become a blessing for everybody.

新 年 好! Xīn nián hǎo! Happy New Year!
恭 喜 发 财! Gōngxǐ fācái! Wishing you wealth!
恭 喜 安 康! Gōngxǐ ānkāng! Wishing you peace and health!
万 事 如 意! Wàn shì rú yì! May your wishes come true!