How does the Chinese New Year differ to our own?

Ah, New Year. The mere mention of it in the Western world conjures up images of a countdown to midnight, as December 31st and the preceding year give way to the 1st of January and a whole New Year.

Indeed, the New Year celebrations held here in the UK are renowned across the world, with the massive celebrations held in cities like London and Edinburgh being famous far beyond Britain. However, for the UK's sizable Chinese population (and people living in China as a whole), New Year is an entirely different celebration.

For starters, Chinese New Year doesn't take place on January the 1st. For that matter, it isn't even held on the same day every year! Because of the fact that the Chinese calendar is lunisolar - meaning that it indicates both the moon phase and the time of the solar year - Chinese New Year starts on a different day each year, and can take place anytime from late January to the middle of February. For instance, 2012's New Year will begin on what would be January the 23rd on the Western calendar, whereas 2011's Chinese New Year took place on February the 3rd.

Another difference between Chinese New Year and the Western New Year is the length of time that the celebrations last for. While many people in Britain look forward to the event all year round, the celebrations in the UK only really last for one day. However, in China, people may take weeks of holiday from their work in order to prepare for and then celebrate the New Year - with festivities in China traditionally lasting for two weeks!

At these celebrations, people wear red clothes, decorate the surroundings with poems on red paper and give children "lucky money" in red envelopes. They do this because red symbolises fire, which, according to Chinese legend, is known to drive away bad luck.

Despite the fact that the Chinese calendar can be hard for the uninitiated to get their head around, one aspect of the New Year that many Brits know of - if not completely understand - is the concept of the animals that each year is associated with. The Chinese legend goes that in ancient times, Buddha asked all of the animals to meet him before he departed from Earth. Overall, twelve came to meet him, and as a result, he gave them all a year and announced that anyone born in each animal's year would have some of that animal's personality. This year marks the year of the dragon - with those being born in dragon years said to be innovative, brave and passionate.

Quirks like this, coupled with the number of people of Chinese descent living in the UK, make Chinese New Year surprisingly popular within Britain. After all, while not everyone will celebrate it, recent surveys show that nearly three-quarters of UK respondents know at least some of the Chinese calendar birth animals - pretty impressive when you consider how complicated the Chinese New Year can be for those not familiar with it. If you want to experience Chinese New Year for yourself, it could be advisable to head to one of the UK's many "China Town" districts to join in the celebrations - or at least witness how people of Chinese descent welcome in their New Year.