CELEBRATED WORLDWIDE– Were you born in 2014 or the beginning of 2015? Well, then you would have been born in the year of the Horse! What is more, 2026 happens to be the year of the Horse as well!
The Chinese Zodiac has twelve animals in it: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig. Every year in either late January or early February, Chinese New Year is celebrated with a different zodiac sign to represent the new year. So if you were born twelve years ago, or before the Lunar New Year of 2015, this would be your year: the year of the Horse!
“Usually, if I’m spending it at my house, sometimes we’ll make dumplings, or pot stickers, or noodles, and we’ll usually eat oranges and put up decorations,” ERO shared.
“We go to a dinner place with karaoke and we do a raffle. And then we go around asking the grown-ups for red envelopes,” KH added.
Like the American New Year’s Eve, people who celebrate Chinese New Year get to stay up until midnight and watch the news, where a show or broadcast would usually be streaming. Unlike the American New Year, however, kids receive red envelopes, or 紅包(hóngbāo). The red envelopes have money inside and represent good fortune and health. Chinese New Year comes from an old legend where a human-eating monster wakes up from hibernation every Chinese New Year and attacks a nearby town. But a wise old guy, like a wizard, tells everyone to hang up red banners over their windows and doors since the monster is scared of the color red (even though it’s sometimes pictured as red itself), and to yell as they bang pots and pans or drums because the monster is afraid of loud noises (even though it roars).
“When my grandparents immigrated to the United States, they brought their culture to us. Also, I think it’s cool to have a second new year!” RM expressed.
Happy Chinese New Year, and 新年快樂 (xīnnián kuàilè)!
Lennon Shirazi • Mar 11, 2026 at 9:52 am
So interesting! It’s so fun to know that it was my year!!!