Chinese new year is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. It is celebrated on the first day of the Chinese Lunar Calendar and is therefore called Lunar New Year, especially by people outside China.

Chinese New Year starts on the first day of the new year containing a new moon. The festival continues until the 15th day of the first lunar month, called Lantern Festival, which occurs around the time of the full moon. In the Gregorian calendar Chinese New Year falls on different dates each year (between January 21 and February 20).

Each year has a presiding animal zodiac and an earthy branch. The latter have no English counterparts and cannot be translated. The animal zodiac repeats at a 12-year cycle. Besides there is a 10-year cycle described by heavenly stems-associated with one of the elements: wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. Each element holds for two years. To make the cycle, each year is associated with yin and yang (the antitheses, or the two opposing and in the same time-completing aspects anything - object, soul or phenomenon) alternating every year.

In Singapore, Chinese New Year is a public holiday. The biggest event of the celebration is the reunion dinner-held on the New Year's Eve. During this dinner, members of the family, close or far, get together for celebration. The meal is very large and usually contains chicken. The meal includes also fish, but it is not completely eaten. The remnants are stored overnight, so that the new year will be prosperous.

The two weeks of celebration are marked by visits to kin, relatives and friends. The custom includes wearing of new clothing. Red packets (hong bao monetary gifts) are given to kids and junior members of the family by the elder.

The Chinese New Year celebrations are marked with beautiful decorations - including lights, lanterns and other items, in bright red colours. Each part of the city is adorned with decorations. The festive days are preceded by a thorough cleaning believed to sweep any bad luck from the house and prime it for a fresh start.

In the first day of the new year, a visit is given to the oldest and more senior members of the family-parents, grandparents. Some families my invite a lion dance as a symbolic ritual and to evict bad spirits from the house. Many people would arrange some fireworks, which if banned are held as on a large scale and organized by the government in the city. Since 2003, the government allowed fire crackers to be set off during the festive season under controlled conditions of the Singapore Tourism Board. They are not allowed to be commercially sold.