When some think of migration, they may conjure up the movement of Monarch butterflies across the American continents, or the stampede of wildebeest after the monsoon in the Serengeti. Most would not think of the Lunar New Years migration of an estimated 2.9 billion people, often called “the largest human migration in the world.”

While Western countries typically celebrate winter-themed holidays such as Christmas, Hanukkah, and other religious observances, Eastern countries celebrate Lunar New Years, an occasion marking the beginning of the new year in the traditional lunar calendar. Instead of being on December 31st and January 1st, the Lunar New Year is on a different day each year. This year, it occurred on Sunday, January 22. 

Multiple countries in Asia celebrate the variations of this holiday, including China, Hong Kong, Korea, Malaysia, Tibet, Singapore, Indonesia, and Vietnam. Each also has their own traditions around it, but one of the most visible are the dragon and lion dances. The lions are a team of two people, who coordinate a dance and story from underneath a lion costume, while the dragons are an entire team of people who hoist a dragon above their heads on poles.

China itself also has different traditions around lunar new years and how it is celebrated, with it being called the Chinese New Year or the Spring Festival.

“It can usually be used interchangeably,” Speech Language Pathologist Jasmin Wang said. “The Chinese New Year can span up to ten days, and is centered on the New Year’s Eve and Day, which are reserved for certain activities. The Spring Festival is more for welcoming in the new year, and is tied to certain activities like the lion dance.”

The holiday itself is the largest celebrated in east Asia.

“In Western society, everyone just kind of skims over the event, but it’s a really important holiday. It’s like Christmas for us, and you can’t miss Christmas dinner,” sophomore Alex Tran said. “I think people should know that for traditional families, it’s a holiday that can’t be missed.”

In America, many immigrants from Asia continue to celebrate this treasured holiday for its ability to bring large families back together, which may have gotten separated over the years. For young children, however, the most memorable aspect of the holiday is likely receiving red envelopes, which contain coveted money in them.

“I think mainly of the red envelopes, the firecrackers, and the lion dance, which are all really cool,” junior Kaz Yokoyama said. “Personally, my favorite part is the food.”

At Liberty, many students celebrate Lunar New Year, from decorating their house to making traditional foods that may take hours to cook. Each food also represents wishes for the new year. In China, uncut noodles are for a long life, and jaozi (dumplings) are for wealth.

“A week before the new year, we cooked traditional Vietnamese rice cakes, called Bánh chưng. They can take 12 hours to cook on the fire, so we would sit around the fireplace and just talk about our lives,” Tran said. 

For Liberty students, some feel that more could be done to celebrate the holiday, but also felt happy in the community that exists to help the celebration continue.

“I would say they don’t have to do anything, but if they would like to, I would love to see it, since I don’t see a lot of representation at school,” Yokoyama said.

“As a community, I think we do enough to celebrate,” Tran said. “But I feel like in the school system we could also do something over the announcements. We could say that ‘this year is the year of this zodiac,’ which would just go to show how important the new year is.”

Others agree with them, and hope that more can be done in the future to celebrate holidays from around the world.

“We touch on these holidays, but it’s not something that brings us together for learning and growth and celebration. I think as a school we can do better than that,” equity team leader Kaela Yuen said. “I think the idea of celebration and education is what is missing.”

According to the Chinese zodiac, this year is the year of the rabbit, which represents mercy, elegance, and beauty. In the Vietnamese zodiac, this year is the year of the cat, which is a symbol of wisdom and foresight. Ho

“It’s a big celebration,” Yokoyama said. “It’s a nice time to celebrate part of my culture and to reconnect with my roots. It’s not just a secondary new year. It’s something of its own.”

The Legend of Chinese New Year:

A long time ago in China, a village was attacked every year by a monster named Nian, or “Year,” at the end of the year.

Every year, the villagers would flee, and watch as their village and crops were destroyed by the monster.

However, the villagers had discovered Nian’s greatest weakness–loud sounds, bright lights, and most of all, the color red.

So, as the new year approached, the villagers prepared a great monster of their own, with bright red colors, and decorated the village with lanterns and the color red. They also prepared fireworks and musical instruments, and sat in wait for Nian to arrive.

When Nian came to the village, the villagers were ready. Two brave volunteers jumped out, wearing their elaborate costumes, and danced as other villagers struck gongs and cymbals. Others set off the fireworks, and the sound and bright lights frightened Nian.

Nian was so afraid that he ran away, and the village was safe.

Ever since then, the Chinese people have celebrated the new year with a celebration, which will always scare away the evil spirits and make sure the new year is safe from harm.