The Year of the Snake lasts from February 10, 2013, to January 30, 2014. The current year is marked as 4710th year in the Chinese Calendar.

There are 12 animal signs – rat,ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig- in a 12 year cycle for the Chinese zodiac. People born in the year of the snake (1905, 1917, 1929, 1941, 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001 and 2013) are “graceful and soft spoken and will graduate toward all the finer things in life. They are not likely to be bothered by money problems. They make excellent mediators and judges with their careful analysis of any situation…” as mentioned in a press release from the Chinese New Year Parade in San Francisco. The parade itself is coming up on February 23 this year.

As to the tradition of this Chinese New Year Parade, it started way back in 1860’s. It is one of the few remaining night-illuminated parades in the country.  “Nowhere in the world will you see a lunar new year parade with more gorgeous floats, elaborate costumes, ferocious lions, exploding firecrackers , and of course the newly crowned Miss Chinatown U.S.A. and her court. A crowd favorite is the spectacular 268' Golden Dragon (Gum Lung) It takes a team of over 100 men and women from the martial arts group, White Crane, to carry this dragon throughout the streets of San Francisco."

The Lunar New Year is celebrated in many Asian countries (including China, Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines) as well as in Mauritius.For Example, you may find out more about Tet celebration according to Professor C. N. Le; about Korean Seollal according to Celine Lee. 

Are you curious about how today’s celebrities fare this year? Here is an account of a few of them: “Year of the Snake May Smile on Psy, but Health Woes Could Bite.”

Are you interested in more of this line of fortune telling? Fancy some library books on the subject of Chinese Astrology? Among the books in the Library, The Imperial Guide to Feng-shui & Chinese Astrology is a big one for serious study; but many of them are just fun to read.

May you be content in the year of the snake!

A lunar calendar is a calendar that is based on cycles of

the lunar phase. Because there are about twelve lunations (synodic months) in a solar year, this period (354.37 days) is sometimes referred to as a lunar year as quoted on wikipedia.

China (including Hong Kong), Taiwan, Korea, Vietnam, and Malaysia celebrate the lunar new year.

Koreans call "Seollal(설날)" for the lunar new year day.
Here is the informative video for "Seollal."

• Seollal

Koreans count their age from conception and base it on the lunar year. Korean babies are officially one years old when they get born.Korean babies are officially one years old when they get born.  Korean babies are officially one year old when they get born, and Koreans will not use the 1st of January as the day when they get older, but the first day of the lunar new year (which is usually in early February).

Bayarea Lunar New Year Event

• Bayarea Discovery Museum

San Jose Public Library Collections

• Lunar New Year

Lunar New Year Crafts in San Jose Public Library

• Lunar New Year Craft for Kids

Additional Information

• Korean New Year
• Chinese New Year
   

This year, Vineland Library is so lucky to be able to celebrate the Lunar New Year with a lion dance.

Vinh Son Liem Lion Dance Group is a non-profit volunteer Dance Group and is comprised of local area students.

Happy New Year!  On Tuesday February 8 the Almaden Library welcomes artist Paul Gonzales for a  family celebration of Lunar New Year featuring animal-inspired crafts.  Join us at 3:30 and create a new decoration to welcome in the Chinese Year of the Rabbit and the Vietnamese Year of the Cat. 

Celebrate Lunar New Year at Berryessa Branch 

Saturday, February 5, 11-4:00pm

 Program 

11:30   Opening by O Mei USA Lion Dance

12:00   “O Mei Kung Fu 峨嵋功夫” by O Mei USA

12:15   “Happy Lunar New Year! 新年好!” by Toyon School, Room 1

12:30   “Fred NO Frevo” by The Circle of Fifth

12:45   “1. 採茶撲蝶   2. 小城故事   3. 戰颱風”

             傅旭芳古箏教室(Chiffon Fu Gu-Zheng Ensemble)

             Melody Li 李妙心; Andrea Lin 林儒渝; Lucy Zhu朱露曦;

             Jocelyn Wang王韻慈; Allison Zhang 張康融

1:00     Learning Mandarin at North Valley Chinese School

             光華中文學校: Michael Truong & Nicholas Kavanaugh

1:10     “Vietnemese Songs:Đón Xuân; Xuân 2011”

             Trang Huynh, PHHS

1:20     ”Golden Rabbit Family’s Lunar New Year Eve ”

             Bryan, Bonnie, Edmont, and Sunny Chu

1:40     “Chinese Songs” by Cecilia Cai

1:50     Berryessa Chinese School CSL, Ms Lee 博愛中文學校CSL班

2:00     “Taichi” by Master Roy Wong’s Taichi Class

2:15     “春樂” & ”歡慶” by Students of Shi, Zhi Ping Dance School

             Ann Zhu, Anna Liu, Erin Lin, Elena Wu, Hannah Po,

             Rachel Li, Tammi Chan, Tersah Lin; Elisa Zhang,

             Sophia Xiao, Alice Hsieh, Isabella Hou, Megan Huang, Michelle Fong, Rosa Lin

2:30     “Butterfly Lover 梁祝” ;“Carmen Fantaisie卡門“

             Albert Li and Kevin Lin

2:45     “Line Dance” by Berryessa Line Dance Class, Mrs. Liao

3:00     “Mental Math Demonstration”

             Students of Chinese American Abacus Association

3:15     Li, Shu Dong Kung Fu, 李書東功夫表演

3:30     Duet by Liping and Linda’s Duet

4:00     The End (please join Raffle with Linda Chen near Booth area)    

Special Thanks to

Berryessa Library and Friends of Berryessa Library

Berryessa Union School District

North Valley Chinese School

Berryessa Chinese School

Chinese American Abcus Association

All Booth Volunteers

All Entertainment Program Participants

Honorable David Cortese, District 3 of Santa Clara County

Honorable Kansen Chu, District 4 of City of San Jose  

Lunar New Year is around the corner. Many Asian families celebrate this holiday. Do you want to take this opportunity to celebrate and explore Lunar New Year culture with us?  If yes, let me share with you some of my favorite books, which my children and I read every year.

再過幾天就是農曆新年，許多華裔家庭都會慶祝這個節日, 你想借這個機會和我們一起慶祝並探索中國文化嗎?下面列的是我的小孩和我每年都會閱讀的一些書目，提供給大家參考

Long-Long’s New Year

by Catherine Gower and He Zhihong

This story is about how Long-Long celebrates Chinese New Year.

這是一個關於Long-Long 如何慶祝春節的故事。

This Next New Year by Janet S. Wong

The author introduces Chinese New Year customs from a child’s viewpoint. It helps children better understand those customs.

作者以小孩子的觀點去敘述中國新年的習俗，更能讓小朋友有所體會。

Runaway Rice Cake by Ying Chang Compestine

Rice cake is a traditional dessert for Chinese New Year, just like gingerbread for Christmas. It is interesting to describe a rice cake like The Gingerbread Man.

就像聖誕節吃薑餅一樣，年糕是過年必吃的傳統甜點。作者用薑餅人的寫作方式來描述年糕，真是有趣。

Sam and the Lucky Money by Karen Chinn

Everyone loves lucky money. What would you do with it? Sam was excited about going shopping with his lucky money, but at the end he decided to help a homeless man instead.

每個人都喜歡拿紅包，但拿了壓歲錢要做什麼呢? Sam本來拿著紅包高興地去逛街買東西，最後卻決定用這些錢去幫助別人。

Hiss! Pop Boom!

By Tricia Morrissey

This book is unique because it introduces Chinese New Year customs and Chinese Brush painting to readers at the same time.

這本的特別之處在於它同時介紹了中國新年習俗及國畫給讀者。

There are many more books, like The Chinese New Year and Exploring Chinatown, talking about Lunar New Year in San José Public Library. You are welcome to visit our libraries as often as you want. Happy Lunar New Year!

在聖何西公共圖書館裏，還有許多關於中國新年的書，像是The Chinese New Year和Exploring Chinatown。有空的話，歡迎多蒞臨圖書館。祝大家新年快樂!