As the new moon appears in the sky tonight, the Lunar New Year begins welcoming the Year of the Tiger.

Lunar New Year takes place during the beginning of a calendar year whose months are moon cycles, based on the lunar calendar. The holiday runs from the last day of the last month of the lunar calendar, to the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first month, making it the longest holiday in the lunar calendar. In 2022, Lunar New Year will begin on February 1st and ends with the Lantern Festival on on February 15th.

During this time, windows and doors of homes and offices are often decorated with red color paper-cuts and couplets with popular themes of “good fortune” or “happiness,” “wealth,” and “longevity.”

It is also a time when families come together, share a meal, exchange gifts and continue traditions that have been passed down for generations. Other activities include lighting firecrackers and giving money in red paper envelopes.

aka Chinese New Year

Although many Western nations refer to the Lunar New Year/Spring Festival holiday as Chinese New Year, it’s celebrated not just in Chinese communities but in other Asian cultures, including Vietnamese, Korean, Tibetan, and Mongolian. It is one of the most important celebrations of the year for many British Columbians, include housing co-op members.

CHF BC believes that celebrating diversity, be it gender, ability, ethnicity, religion, or sexual orientation, helps to create a vibrant community in which all individuals live in mutual respect and peace. Our members are homes to a multitude of cultures and languages from around the world, including large and diverse Asian-Canadian community.

Year of the Tiger

This will be the Year of the Tiger, according to the Chinese zodiac, with the year lasting from February 1, 2022 until January 21, 2023. The Tiger is known as the king of all beasts in China. The zodiac sign Tiger is a symbol of strength, exorcising evils, and braveness.

The Tiger ranks the third among the animals of the Chinese zodiac. The 12 zodiac animals are, in order: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig. Each year is related to an animal sign according to a 12-year-cycle.

Recent and upcoming years of the Tiger were 1938, 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998 and 2010