Chinese New Year is an important traditional Chinese holiday celebrated on the first day of the year of the Chinese calendar. In China, it is also known as the Spring Festival, the literal translation of the modern Chinese name. Chinese New Year celebrations traditionally run from Chinese New Year's Eve, the last day of the last month of the Chinese calendar, to the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first month, making the festival the longest in the Chinese calendar. Because the Chinese calendar is lunisolar, the Chinese New Year is often referred to as the "Lunar New Year".
Names in Chinese
Traditionally, the festivities surrounding Chinese New Year was known as the Nian festival (traditional Chinese: 年節; simplified Chinese: 年节; pinyin: Nián Jié), which may be understood to as "festival of the year", or "new year festival". A derivative term, "Guo Nian" (traditional Chinese: 過年; simplified Chinese: 过年; pinyin: guò Nián), "to pass the year", is still commonly used to refer to the act of celebrating the arrival of the new year. An alternative name for Chinese New Year is "New Year in the Agricultural Calendar" (traditional Chinese: 農曆新年; simplified Chinese: 农历新年; pinyin: Nónglì Xīnnían), the "Agricultural Calendar" being one of the more common Chinese language names for the Chinese calendar in China.
More Information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_New_Year
