Red Quartz Crystal
Auto Self Portrait
This year the first day of the Chinese Year falls on Valentine's Day February 14, 2010
A calendar is a system we use to measure the passage of time, from short durations of minutes and hours, to intervals of time measured in days, months, years and centuries. These are fundamentally based on the astronomical observations of the movement of the Sun, Earth, Moon and stars. Days are measured by the duration of time of one self rotation of the Earth. Months are measured by the duration of time of rotation of the Moon around the Earth. Years are measured by the duration of time it takes for the Earth to rotate around the Sun.
fun facts:
The Chinese calendar predates our 430 year old Gregorian based international calendar by many centuries whereby our year 2010 is year 4708 in the Chinese calendar. This year of 2010 is the Year of the Tiger which is also known by its formal name of 'Geng Yin'.
view image on black background
© Copyright 2010 - 2016 Tomitheos Photography - All Rights Reserved
Chinese New Year Traditions:
Red Envelopes
Red envelopes (hóng bāo) are given to children and unmarried adults. Married couples also give red envelopes to their parents. The envelopes contain money in new bills, and the total amount must be an even number. “Four” is a homonym for “death” therefore the total amount should never contain $4, $40, or $400.
Lantern Festival and Fireworks
The Festival proper begins on the first day of the first lunar month (Chinese: 正月; pinyin: zhēng yuè) in the Chinese calendar and ends on the 15th; this day is called Lantern Festival. The Chinese believe that evil spirits are driven away by loud noise therefore the Chinese New Year is a very loud celebration. Firecrackers are set off throughout the near two week long holiday, and there are many displays of fireworks lighting up the evening skies.
Some countries such as Singapore and Malaysia restrict the use of fireworks, but Taiwan and Mainland China still allow almost unrestricted use of firecrackers and fireworks.
Chinese Zodiac
The Chinese zodiac cycles every 12 years, each year is named after a respected animal.
Tiger : February 14, 2010 - February 02, 2011
Rabbit : February 03, 2011 - January 22, 2012
Dragon : January 23, 2012 - February 09, 2013
Snake : February 10, 2013 - January 30, 2014
Horse : January 31, 2014 - February 18, 2015
Sheep : February 19, 2015 - February 07, 2016
Monkey : February 08, 2016 - January 27, 2017
Rooster : January 28, 2017 - February 18, 2018
Dog : February 19, 2018 - February 04, 2019
Pig : February 05, 2019 - January 24, 2020
Rat : January 25, 2020 - February 11, 2021
Ox : February 12, 2021 - January 31, 2022
flickr today
Red Quartz Crystal
Auto Self Portrait
This year the first day of the Chinese Year falls on Valentine's Day February 14, 2010
A calendar is a system we use to measure the passage of time, from short durations of minutes and hours, to intervals of time measured in days, months, years and centuries. These are fundamentally based on the astronomical observations of the movement of the Sun, Earth, Moon and stars. Days are measured by the duration of time of one self rotation of the Earth. Months are measured by the duration of time of rotation of the Moon around the Earth. Years are measured by the duration of time it takes for the Earth to rotate around the Sun.
fun facts:
The Chinese calendar predates our 430 year old Gregorian based international calendar by many centuries whereby our year 2010 is year 4708 in the Chinese calendar. This year of 2010 is the Year of the Tiger which is also known by its formal name of 'Geng Yin'.
view image on black background
© Copyright 2010 - 2016 Tomitheos Photography - All Rights Reserved
Chinese New Year Traditions:
Red Envelopes
Red envelopes (hóng bāo) are given to children and unmarried adults. Married couples also give red envelopes to their parents. The envelopes contain money in new bills, and the total amount must be an even number. “Four” is a homonym for “death” therefore the total amount should never contain $4, $40, or $400.
Lantern Festival and Fireworks
The Festival proper begins on the first day of the first lunar month (Chinese: 正月; pinyin: zhēng yuè) in the Chinese calendar and ends on the 15th; this day is called Lantern Festival. The Chinese believe that evil spirits are driven away by loud noise therefore the Chinese New Year is a very loud celebration. Firecrackers are set off throughout the near two week long holiday, and there are many displays of fireworks lighting up the evening skies.
Some countries such as Singapore and Malaysia restrict the use of fireworks, but Taiwan and Mainland China still allow almost unrestricted use of firecrackers and fireworks.
Chinese Zodiac
The Chinese zodiac cycles every 12 years, each year is named after a respected animal.
Tiger : February 14, 2010 - February 02, 2011
Rabbit : February 03, 2011 - January 22, 2012
Dragon : January 23, 2012 - February 09, 2013
Snake : February 10, 2013 - January 30, 2014
Horse : January 31, 2014 - February 18, 2015
Sheep : February 19, 2015 - February 07, 2016
Monkey : February 08, 2016 - January 27, 2017
Rooster : January 28, 2017 - February 18, 2018
Dog : February 19, 2018 - February 04, 2019
Pig : February 05, 2019 - January 24, 2020
Rat : January 25, 2020 - February 11, 2021
Ox : February 12, 2021 - January 31, 2022
flickr today