"Chinese New Year starts with the New Moon on the first day of the new year and ends on the full moon 15 days later. The 15th day of the new year is called the Lantern Festival, which is celebrated at night with lantern displays and children carrying lanterns in a parade.

The Chinese calendar is based on a combination of lunar and solar movements. The lunar cycle is about 29.5 days. In order to "catch up" with the solar calendar the Chinese insert an extra month once every few years (seven years out of a 19-year cycle). This is the same as adding an extra day on leap year. This is why, according to the solar calendar, the Chinese New Year falls on a different date each year.

New Year's Eve and New Year's Day are celebrated as a family affair, a time of reunion and thanksgiving. The celebration was traditionally highlighted with a religious ceremony given in honor of Heaven and Earth, the gods of the household and the family ancestors.

The sacrifice to the ancestors, the most vital of all the rituals, united the living members with those who had passed away. Departed relatives are remembered with great respect because they were responsible for laying the foundations for the fortune and glory of the family.

The presence of the ancestors is acknowledged on New Year's Eve with a dinner arranged for them at the family banquet table. The spirits of the ancestors, together with the living, celebrate the onset of the New Year as one great community. The communal feast called "surrounding the stove" or weilu. It symbolizes family unity and honors the past and present generations."

I wish I could take credit for writing the above info, but I pimped it off of: http://www.educ.uvic.ca/faculty/mroth/438/CHINA/chinese_new_year.html

For Aric, who's been concluding his own thoughts on Chinese Taboos and Superstitions, the above link has some pretty good ones. ;) Here's also another cool link to check out:
http://www.chinatown-online.co.uk/pages/new_year/index.html

Last night, Sis threw her annual Chinese New Year Dinner. All of her in-laws, whom we're all very close to, got together. It was so nice to see all the kids and babies! Because Sis and her in-laws all own Liquor Stores, the dinner began the same time I usually go to bed, so Wil, Tony, and I couldn't hang out as long we wanted.

Wishing you all prosperity, longevity, happiness, and lots of of red envelopes! =)

Test Update: still nothing!

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