19/01/2023
LGBTQIA+ people of a Chinese background will be sending their greetings this weekend as the calendar reaches the Chinese New Year. We are entering into the Year of the Rabbit. The festival is somewhat like Christmas in Western traditions, in that celebrations go on for weeks and the build up is intense. The first week, which this year falls from 22nd to 29th January, is the official Chinese holiday, when businesses are closed and special celebrations take place. But celebrations will return for the Lantern Festival on 15th February. Although China adopted the Gregorian or Western calendar after the communist takeover of 1949, the traditional calendar is still in widespread use to govern cultural events and is based on an ancient lunisolar system, meaning that the dates of events move relative to our calendar. Traditions at this time of year including cleaning the house to prepare the way for good fortune, wearing red, lighting firecrackers and giving money in red paper envelopes. “Out China” is a pan-continental network for LGBT+ people from China and with a Chinese background. You can find their support and activism services online – we've popped a link up on our newsfeed. So, Happy Chinese New Year however you are celebrating!
