Lunar New Year 2024: The Year of the Dragon

Lunar New Year starts today, February 10th, 2024.  It is a massive New Year celebration in China and in many Asian countries like Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and Korea (where it is called "Seollal"). Here you can find a list of links to articles and videos that show how this spring festival is celebrated across Asia.

The Straits Times of Singapore run this story three days ago "Roaring into the Year of the Dragon: S'pore scales up its Chinese New Year splendour", which shows incredibly spectacular photos of street decoration to celebrate Chinese New Year. This photo display is accessible for any level, but the descriptive written language of the captions makes them more suitable for C1 students, who will find interesting words like: to roar, to scale up, to spot, to weave, an animatronic [sculpture], a cloak, striking, an installation, to herald, auspicious, a myriad, ferocious [splendour], reminiscent, to pose [for photos], cute, on display, to bestow, blessing, a beast, to soar [skyward], a roundabout, a lantern, to put up, to share, to grace, to toil, repurposed, an attire, lightbulbs, Styrofoam, to embody, community spirit, a rendition, handcrafted, to debut, an outsize [version], a performance, vibrant, to perch, greetings, formidable, a mid-vault, to leap over, a waterfall, polyfoam, fibreglass, a resort, insta-worthy, to whip out [their phones], to slay, a pairing, to adorn, troops, overhead, to set [Chinatown] aglow, to launch, festive [lights]. larger-than-life, to be fitted, to snap [shots], a showcase.

A very popular tradition on Chinese New Year is giving family and friends a red packet, called "lai see", with money. The South China Morning Post explains this custom in detail in "Lunar New Year red packets: everything you need to know about giving and receiving 'lai see', from who and when to how much", do not miss the video with subtitles! It explains the complex social rules of the gift-giving exchange and a short tale that recounts its legendary origin. The article can be read by B2 students, whereas the video, which basically contains the same information, is problably more suitable for C1 learners.

Shine News reports on the preparations for the Lunar New Year in Qibao Ancient Town in Shanghai, in the article "Spring festivities flourish on Shanghai's streets", which also shows some pictures of local street decorations, lights and food. Shine News also explains "China's fascination with dragons: What's behind it?" with an article and a video. These short articles and the video are recommended for B2 students.

Other parts of the world also celebrate Chinese New Year. Zaragoza held a parade on Sunday 28th January, on the eve of saint Valero's holiday, with a dragon, a tiger and a Chinese folk show on El Pilar square. Sydney (Australia) holds a 4-week-long festival with loads of activities from Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese traditions.  You can check it out on Sydney Lunar Festival 2024. And ABS-CBN News in Manila (Philippines) reports on the culinary feasts in neighbouring countries: in Vietnam the delicacy to eat for Lunar New Year or "Tet" is 'dragon feet' chickens and in Cambodia people flock to markets to buy roasted pigs.

Finally, you can learn how Seollal is celebrated in Korea by watching this short video below  (0:59") with subtitles, which is suitable for C1 students.