Las Vegas is a hugely
popular tourist destination for many Chinese, and they love
celebrating their New Year here in Sin City. It is not
nearly as big as our New Year naturally, but almost every
casino will be displaying banners celebrating the upcoming
event, you will see uniquely Chinese themes everywhere from
the Bellagio Conservatory, to Panda themes and other
exhibits denoting the event, and the hotels on the Strip and
Downtown will be close to full during the 15 day celebration
leading up to Chinese New Year.
The Chinese calendar
is determined in large part by the lunar phases, and so the
exact date can vary from year to year, but it usually begins
late January to early or mid February with the first new
moon, and continues for 15 days. It ends with the Lantern
Festival on the 15th day of celebration. You will notice
also if you are in Vegas during this time, that yellow and
red are the primary colors, much like our Holiday Season
often uses Red and Green, and much of the decoration will be
centered on whichever year it is.
The years rotate, and are called “the
year of the...”
Rat
Ox
Tiger
Rabbit
Dragon
Snake
Horse
Sheep
Monkey
Rooster
Dog
Pig
Starting February 3, 2011 and lasting
until January 23, 2012 for instance it will be Year of the
Rabbit.
