This may appear to be an unusual article for Voice of Wales, but our aim is to be diverse and we know that millions of people will be celebrating Chinese New Year, also known as the Lunar New Year.

Celebrations officially began on the 1 February and will last about 15 days ending with the Lantern Festival that will run between 12 to 15 February, also known as the Yuan Xiao Festival?

This is different to the ‘Gregorian’ calendar that we traditionally use in the UK, which always starts on 1 January, because it depends on the Moon, and the date of Lunar New Year as it changes each year.

This year marks the change from the year of the Ox to the year of the Tiger.

People in lots of other Asian countries celebrate the lunar festival, and it’s the most important celebration in the Chinese calendar.

Here’s what you need to know about the year of the Tiger

Like all Tiger years, this year will prove to have many qualities that the Tiger possesses: dynamic, engaging, the unexpected, as well as their courage and spontaneous nature, so we can expect to see a lot of this in 2022.

We’ve already seen this taking place within our own governments worldwide with their attempts to blindside us, but ‘The People’ of the world are showing their bravery and courage to take stand against ongoing tyranny.

It can feel like a rollercoaster ride, and there are likely to be plenty of ups and downs on an emotional level. One moment you may feel you are on top of the world. The next, well, not so much.

2021, the year of the Ox brought a slower pace and greater grounding. It was a year of rebuilding and getting back on our feet. The last year provided the opportunity to analyse and assess, enabling us to set the groundwork for the future we want to build.

The forthcoming Tiger year is about action and adventure and it’s the first time for 60 years that we’ve had a Water Tiger year, the last falling in 1962. As for the Year of The Tiger itself, they have previously fallen in 1938, 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986 and 1998.

How can I celebrate the Lantern Festival?
For more than 2,000 years, “by imperial decree”, temples, homes and palaces across China have hung brightly-lit lanterns on the 15th night of the year’s 1st lunar month, explains Chinese American Family (CAF).

The Lantern Festival is always a feast for the eyes, from incredible firework displays to beautiful colourful dragons, and hundreds of lanterns.

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