Chinese New Year: Niles Area Events Kick Off Year Of The Tiger

NILES, IL — Chinese New Year’s Eve and Chinese New Year 2022 fall on Tuesday and Wednesday, Feb. 1-2, starting off the year of the tiger with celebrations that include parades, food and other cultural traditions over the next couple of weeks in Chicago and its suburbs.

Chinese New Year is a 15-day festival in China and in Asian communities around the world that falls sometime between Jan. 21-Feb. 20 on Western calendars every year, but simultaneously with the new moon. It’s also called Lunar New Year for that reason — and called Spring Festival because, in China, people receive seven days off work for relaxation.

This year, the celebration begins as the year of the ox draws to a close Monday with the traditional Chinese New Year’s Eve, and ends Feb. 15 with the Lantern Festival. Staples of these festivals are dragon dances, a ritual in which dancers carry a colorful dragon — a symbol of good fortune in Chinese culture — in a long procession through the streets.

A Lunar New Year celebration is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Monday at Dozika Restaurant, 601 Dempster St. in Evanston. Hosted by the Main-Dempster Mile in partnership with The Kitchen Table Stories Project, Kinds Create Change and Evanston Pride, the event is set to feature a lion dance performance, wish envelopes and hot tea.

On Tuesday, the park district in Highland Park is hosting a Lunar New Year celebration aimed at children from age 6 to 9. Scheduled for 4 p.m., the event is due to feature crafts, cooking and a participation event. Registration is required and participants were asked to wear red, gold or other bright colors.

And in Chicago's Uptown neighborhood, the annual Argyle Lunar New Year celebration takes place Feb. 5 with its parade starting at 1 p.m. from the intersection of West Argyle Street and North Winthrop Avenue. A local tradition for more than 40 years, the event is due to feature dozens of local community groups, cultural institutions and family-friendly activities.

Here are some things to know about Chinese New Year:

Lunar New Year Is Celebrated Across Cultures

The holiday is called Chinese New Year because it’s tied to the lunar-solar Chinese calendar, and it is an important holiday in China. But it’s also celebrated by billions of people in regions and countries with significant Chinese or Sinophone populations, including Taiwan, Singapore, Cambodia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Myanmar, the Philippines, the United States, Mauritius and Canada.

Why Does Chinese New Year Have Animals?

Each year on the zodiac calendar is represented by an animal on the 12-year cycle of the Chinese zodiac. According to legend, people born under that sign have traits similar to the animal. 2022 is the year of the tiger.

Real tigers are solitary. Mother tigers spend two or three years caring for their cubs before sending them on their own, according to Kids National Geographic. They’re fierce but stealthy and patient as they stalk their prey. Humans with tiger-like traits may be brave, confident and strong, but also can be strong-willed, opinionated and stubborn.

The years 2010, 1998, 1986, 1974 and 1962 were also years of the tiger.

What Are Some Ways To Celebrate Chinese New Year?

Rid your house of the previous year by giving it a thorough cleaning. It’s a tangible way to start the year with a clean slate.

You may not be able to take off seven days, but at the very least take Chinese New Year off work and make your family and home your focus. It’s important to do things you enjoy, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Jiaozi is often a main course in an extravagant Chinese New Year’s Eve meal. They are a kind of dumpling and considered lucky because they resemble the coin purses in ancient times that represented wealth. Other menu staples include a sticky and compact rice cake known as nian gao, which may be sweet or savory.

The color red is ubiquitous. According to a thousands-of-years-old legend, a monster named Nian (“Year”) that attacked villagers at the beginning of every year was frightened of red, along with bright lights and loud noises, also very common in celebrations. Young people often get money in red envelopes, and fireworks are set off throughout the 15-day celebration to chase the beast Nian away.