Chinese New Year, also known as Lunar New Year, is the most important festival of the traditional Chinese holidays. In China, it is known as 'Spring Festival', the literal translation of the Chinese name春节, since the spring season in Chinese calendar starts with Lichun, the first solar term in a Chinese calendar year. It falls on the 1st day of the first lunar month, often one month later than the Gregorian calendar. According to history, it originated in the Shang Dynasty (c. 1600 BC-c. 1100 BC) from the people's sacrifice to gods and ancestors at the end of an old year and the beginning of a new one.

　　Chinese New Year is celebrated in China and in countries and territories with significant Chinese populations, including Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan, Mauritius, and the Philippines and also in Chinatowns elsewhere. Chinese New Year is considered a major holiday for the Chinese and has had influence on the lunar New Year celebrations of its geographic neighbors.

　　The origin of Chinese New Year is itself centuries old and gains significance because of several myths and traditions. According to tales and legends, the beginning of Chinese New Year started with the fight against a mythical beast called the Nian. Nian would come on the first day of New Year to eat livestock, crops, and even villagers, especially children. To protect themselves, the villagers would put food in front of their doors at the beginning of every year. It was believed that after the Nian ate the food they prepared, it would not attack any more people. One time, people saw that the Nian was scared away by a little child wearing red. The villagers then understood that the Nian was afraid of the color red. Hence, every time when the New Year was about to come, the villagers would hang red lanterns and red spring scrolls on windows and doors. People also used firecrackers to frighten away the Nian. From then on, Nian never came to the village again. The Nian was eventually captured by Hongjun Laozu, an ancient Taoist monk. In the end, the Nian became Hongjun Laozu's mount.

　　Around the world, Chinese New Year is observed as a public holiday in a number of countries and territories where a sizable Chinese population resides. Since Chinese New Year falls on different dates on the Gregorian calendar every year on different days of the week, some of these governments opt to shift working days in order to accommodate a longer public holiday. In some countries, a statutory holiday is added on the following work day when the New Year falls on a weekend, as in the case of 2013, where the New Year's Eve (February 9) falls on Saturday and the New Year's Day (February 10) on Sunday.

　　In Southeast Asia, Chinese New Year is a public holiday and considered to be one of the most important holidays of the year. The biggest celebrations take place in Malaysia (notably in Penang and Klang) and Singapore.

　　Singapore is a state with a large population of Chinese. So, Chinese New Year is celebrated annually in Singapore. The celebrations in Singapore start way before the festival arrives. Families start to shop for New Year goods, decorate their homes and do their spring cleaning before the New Year comes. On the eve of the Chinese New Year, families will eat their reunion dinner which signifies the reunion of the family. Most Singaporean families will have a steamboat dinner for their reunion dinner. Singaporeans are only entitled to 2 days of public holidays for this festival. Besides, Chinese New Year's Eve is usually an unofficial half-day holiday in Singapore. During these 2 days, families will go around paying visits to their relatives and friends. Married couples will give red packets to the children. The red packets signifies blessing from the adults.

　　The festival traditionally begins on the first day of the first month in the Chinese calendar and ends on the 15th day. During this time, the streets of the city come alive with the sounds of traditional music, the sights of hanging red lanterns and the tantalizing smells wafting from the many night stalls set-up in various neighborhoods’ throughout Singapore.

　　One such precinct is Chinatown, which, with its stunning street light-ups, night markets and decorations, is the focal point for Chinese New Year celebrations in Singapore. The best time to absorb the lively atmosphere that Chinatown has to offer is during the Chinatown Street Light Up. This is when lion dancers, fire eaters and female dance troupes grace Kreta Ayer Square with their mesmerizing performances. Armed with giant paper fans and intricately patterned umbrellas, they will provide you with street entertainment that you are unlikely to forget.

　　Folklore is very much at the heart of this festival. All across the city, you’ll notice dragon and lion dances everywhere – lending a cheery, festive atmosphere to the occasion. Dragons and lions are prominent characters in Chinese mythology; its roots originating in ancient China when Nian, a mythical beast which tormented villagers was discovered to be afraid of the color red.

　　Singapore bursts with all sorts of activities and events during Chinese New Year each year. The centerpiece of the festivities is the Chingay Parade - A grand annual street parade that is a 40-year tradition. Characteristically uniqueness is a grand carnival-like street parade with dazzling floats, thrilling spectacles like fire-eaters, magicians and sizzling dance acts. However, to accommodate more spectators, it is held on the expansive grounds of the Formula One Pit Building alongside the Marina waterfront. According to the official announcement, Chingay 2013 will take place on 22 and 23 February. Beautifully themed as "Fire in Snow", it presents a dazzling spectacle of fire as a symbol of bravery, resilience and determination against a spectacular snow scene. The six-part segment will involve 10,000 performers from 120 organizations. Be captivated as the 360-meter long parade route transforms into an ‘ocean of fire’ with 1,000 burning used woks and pots to honor the resilient spirit of Singaporeans. An attention-riveting fusion opera performance is one of the highlights of the parade, and so are special finale performances by popular local media personalities such as Billy Wang and Sebastian Tan.

　　Another popular annual Chinese New Year event is the River Hongbao. Held on the Marina Bay Floating Platform and the Esplanade Waterfront Promenade in mid-February, the vicinity comes alive with the throbbing beat of lively street performances, shopping and games stalls, lanterns and fireworks – a crowd favorite during Chinese New Year.

　　Nearby at the Esplanade, the annual Huayi Festival, which also happens in February, showcases traditional and contemporary Chinese arts in a variety of genres like theatre, opera and music, and includes visual installations by renowned Chinese artists from all over the world.

　　Though Singapore is a modern city influenced by the western culture in daily life, it follows all kinds of Chinese traditions during the Chinese New Year. In many households where Buddhism or Taoism is prevalent, home altars and statues are cleaned thoroughly, and altars that were adorned with decorations from the previous year are taken down and burned a week before the new year starts, to be replaced with new decorations. Taoists (and Buddhists to a lesser extent) will also "send gods", an example would be burning a paper effigy of Zao Jun -- the Kitchen God, the recorder of family functions. This is done so that the Kitchen God can report to the Jade Emperor of the family household's transgressions and good deeds. Families often offer sweet foods (such as candy) in order to "bribe" the deities into reporting good things about the family.

　　In Singapore, New Year's Day is a solemn occasion. Every family performs religious rites at the family altar. Traditionally, firecrackers were once lit to scare away evil spirits with the household doors sealed, not to be reopened until the new morning in a ritual called "opening the door of fortune". While fireworks and firecrackers are traditionally very popular, some regions have banned them due to concerns over fire hazards. For this reason, various city governments (e.g., Hong Kong, and Beijing, for a number of years) issued bans over fireworks and firecrackers in certain precincts of the city. In Singapore, a partial ban on firecrackers was imposed in March 1970 after a fire killed six people and injured 68. This was extended to a total ban in August 1972, after an explosion that killed two people and an attack on two police officers attempting to stop a group from letting off firecrackers in February 1972. However, in 2003, the government allowed firecrackers to be set off during the festive season. At the Chinese New Year light-up in Chinatown at the stroke of midnight on the first day of the Chinese New Year, firecrackers are set off under controlled conditions by the Singapore Tourism Board with assistance from demolition experts from the Singapore Armed Forces. As a substitute, in Singapore, large-scale fireworks display have been launched by governments.

　　Most importantly, the first day of Chinese New Year is a time to honor one's elders and families visit the oldest and most senior members of their extended families, usually their parents, grandparents and great-grandparents. Red packets for the immediate family are sometimes distributed while paying visits. These packets almost always contain money, usually varying from a couple of dollars to several hundred. Per custom, the amount of money in the red packets should be of even numbers, as odd numbers are associated with cash given during funerals. The number 8 is considered lucky (for its homophone for "wealth"), and $8 is commonly found in the red envelopes in Singapore. The number six is also very lucky as it sounds like 'smooth' , in the sense of having a smooth year. Sometimes chocolate coins are found in the red packets. Odd and even numbers are determined by the first digit, rather than the last. Thirty and fifty, for example, are odd numbers, and are thus appropriate as funeral cash gifts. However, it is common and quite acceptable to have cash gifts in a red packet using a single bank note – with ten or fifty dollar bills used frequently. The act of requesting for red packets is normally called (Mandarin): 讨紅包 tǎo-hóngbāo. A married person would not turn down such a request as it would mean that he or she would be "out of luck" in the new year.

　　In addition to get soaked in the festive atmosphere, Spring Festival is the high time for young people to understand Chinese culture and its traditions better, as well as to pray for more luck and prosperity for the rest of the year.