Our New Year has already happened, but the party’s not over yet! Lunar New Year is only a week away– and we think it's actually cooler than ours.
We love to host grand New Year parties in the United States, but when it comes to celebrating the New Year China has us beat! Celebrated in China, South Korea, and other Asian countries, Lunar New Year festivities last at least a week– and that’s on the short end! Like its name suggests, the full Lunar New Year holiday lasts for 15 days, starting on the first new moon and ending on the first full moon of the lunar calendar. The festivities involve fireworks, dancing, and lots of tasty food like sweet rice balls, whole fish, or tangerines… mmm, we’re getting hungry just thinking about it! Family members also give each other cash-filled red envelopes to represent prosperity for the new year. We’ll be making some at TADL too to celebrate the new year on the 17th (click here if you’d like to learn more). Celebrations culminate with the Lantern Festival, ending Lunar New Year on a high note.
The Chinese Zodiac also goes hand in hand with Lunar New Year. Each year honors one of the 12 Chinese Zodiac animals: in order they are the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig.
Chinese legend states that the order of the Chinese Zodiac was determined by a Great Race held by the Jade Emperor, the divine ruler of heaven. The Jade Emperor wanted a way to determine the 12 zodiac years, so he invited all animals to a race: the order in which they finished would determine the order of the zodiac for all years to come. As the story goes, Ox and Rat were in the lead with Ox carrying his friend across the land. But sneaky Rat wanted to be the winner, so he jumped off of Ox’s back and over the finish line at the last minute, making Rat and Ox the first and second to win. Tiger and Rabbit were close behind them, earning them the third and fourth spots. Dragon was a fan favorite because he could fly, so the Jade Emperor was confused and asked why he hadn’t come in first. It turns out Dragon had been helping a nearby village, and refused to finish the race until the village could be helped! Even so, he still came in fifth place. Snake and Horse were next to finish in sixth and seventh– but Snake rudely tripped Horse in order to come before him. Eighth place was Ram, ninth place was Monkey, and tenth place was Rooster, who all came together. Dog took his time and came in eleventh place, and Pig took a nap and lost track of time, coming in last place as the twelfth zodiac animal. So with the race finished, each zodiac animal was honored in their respective year until the cycle renewed again.
2026 is the Year of the Horse, which is the seventh year in the zodiac cycle. We’re sure horse girls will be happy to hear that! Like their zodiac animal, people born in the Year of the Horse are known for their vitality, independence, and enthusiastic charm. Horses are known as free spirits who are passionate and hardworking towards their goals. However, they can also be stubborn and quickly lose interest in things that bore them. If that sounds like you, you might be a Horse! The most recent Horse years were 2014, 2002, 1990, 1978, and 1966. However, if you were born in January you might actually be the previous year’s animal since the Chinese New Year starts in February.
All sorts of famous celebrities were born in the Year of the Horse– here are some of our favorites!
Celebrity actors and actresses including Clint Eastwood, Jackie Chan, Adam Sandler, Halle Berry, Kristen Stewart, Emma Watson, and Jenna Ortega are all Horses. Other Horses are famous TV personalities like Oprah, Judge Judy, or Gordon Ramsey! But that’s not all. Bob Ross was one of the most famous Horse artists, and Paul McCartney and Jimi Hendrix are some of the most iconic musicians to be born in Horse years too. And Mike Tyson is our favorite Horse athlete. Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon, was also a horse– how’s that for special!
Last but not least, here are a few fandom characters we think are Horses: Tommy from Rugrats, Sailor Uranus from Sailor Moon, Yoshikage Kira from JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, and Fred and George from Harry Potter are all some of the most famous characters who are Horses! Which one is your favorite?
We hope you loved learning about the Lunar New Year with us! For any of our Horse patrons who are reading this, neigh-ver stop dreaming! Life’s a journey– so enjoy the ride.