Lunar New Year Resource Guide

Lunar New Year, also known as Chinese New Year or Spring Festival, celebrates the beginning of a new year on the traditional lunisolar Chinese calendar. It was traditionally a time to honor deities as well as ancestors, and it has also become a time to feast and visit family members. 

The Chinese base their New Year celebration on the lunar calendar instead of the solar one used in the West. Whereas people who follow the solar calendar always celebrate the New Year on Jan. 1, the Lunar New Year will depend on the moon. Generally, it is celebrated in February, yet the exact day will vary from year to year. This year it was Feb. 10.

The San Diego County Office of Education is focused on creating equitable access with consistently strong outcomes for all students, paying special attention to the needs of historically marginalized populations. This resource guide will provide information and resources to support the celebration of the Chinese New Year.

2024 - THE YEAR OF THE WOOD DRAGON

For many Asian cultures, the year of the wood dragon represents authority, prosperity, and good fortune. Wood symbolizes humanity’s aspiration to achieve, progress, grow, and expand. The Year of the Dragon – considered one of the luckiest “animals” in Chinese culture –  represents health, strength, and good fortune. The dragon also is unique because it is the only mythical creature of all the animals in the Chinese zodiac. 

Lunar New Year Festivals

Celebrate the Lunar New Year and learn more about Chinese community members and culture at a Lunar New Year festival near you. Check your local library for youth craft and reading events.

• Lunar New Year Festival on Feb. 9-11
• Chinese New Year Festival on Feb. 24-25
• San Diego Chinese New Year Faire on Feb. 24-25  

Educational Resources

Curricular Resources

• The Asian American Education Project
• Lunar New Year is Actually Celebrated in Most Asian Countries
• The History and Origin of Chinese New Year
• Symbols Related to Chinese New Year
• Traditions of Chinese New Year
• The Origin and History of Chinese New Year
• 22 Facts about Chinese New Year You Should Know
• The Myth Behind the Chinese zodiac
• China Quest - Chinese New Year Activities

Video Resources

• What is Chinese New Year 2024?
• How do you celebrate Chinese New Year?
• Bet You Didn't Know-Chinese New Year
• Legend of Nian- Lunar New Year

I want to see my culture and my history represented in the curriculum because it's important not only for me to know my history, but others as well.
- San Diego County student

Asian Student Experience Panel

• 4 Ways to Incorporate More Asian American Perspectives Into the Curriculum
• Asian American Teaching Toolkit
• Asian American and Pacific Islander alliances

Books Celebrating Asian American Pacific Islander Culture

Picture Books

The article, Eight of Our Favorite Asian American Picture Books, has information and recommendations on diverse and authentically representative picture books for Asian American youth.

• Clever Little Witch, by Muon Thi Van and Hyewon Yum
• How to Solve a Problem: The Rise (and Falls) of a Rock-Climbing Champion, by Ashima Shiraishi and Yao Xiao
• Juna’s Jar, by Jane Bahk and Felicia Hoshino
• Lift, by Minh Le and Dan Santat
• Our Favorite Day, by Joowon Oh
• Puddle, by Hyewon Yum
• Redwoods, by Jason Chin
• Super Satya Saves the Day, by Raakhee Mirchandani and Tim Palin

High School and Adult Books

The New York Public Library published the article, Major Feelings: An Asian Pacific Islander Desi American (APIDA) Reading List, on noteworthy adult novels, graphic novels, short stories, memoirs, and nonfiction books that explore the broad canopy of writing by Asian Pacific Islander Desi Americans (to include people from the Indian subcontinent and diaspora). 

• Afterland: Poems by Mai Der Vang 
• All You Can Ever Know: A Memoir by Nicole Chung
• Apsara Engine by Bishakh Som
• The Best We Could Do: An Illustrated Memoir by Thi Bui
• Bengali Harlem and the Lost Histories of South Asian America by Vivek Bald
• Bestiary by K-Ming Chang
• Blame This on the Boogie by Rina Ayuyang
• Bright Lines: A Novel by Tanwi Nadini Islam (Tanaïs)
• Dear Girls: Intimate Tales, Untold Secrets and Advice for Living Your Best Life by Ali Wong
• Fairest: A Memoir by Meredith Tulusan
• The Good Immigrant: 26 Writers Reflect on America edited by Nikesh Shukla and Chimène Suleyman
• Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations by Mira Jacob
• Go Home! edited by Rowan Hisayo Buchanan
• Gutted by Justin Chin
• Homeland Elegies: A Novel by Ayad Akhtar
• If They Come for Us by Fatimah Asghar
• In Waves by A.J. Dungo
• Incendiaries by R.O. Kwon
• Insurrecto by Gina Apostol
• Making Comics by Lynda Barry
• Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning by Cathy Park Hong
• Monstress by Lysley Tenorio
• New Waves by Kevin Nguyen
• No-No Boy by John Okada
• Not Quite Not White: Losing and Finding Race in America by Shamila Sen
• Nuanua: Pacific Writing in English Since 1980 edited by Albert Wendt
• On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
• Quarantine: Stories by Rahul Mehta
• Soft Science by Franny Choi
• This Is Paradise by Kristina Kahakauwila
• A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki
• We Too Sing America: South Asian, Arab, Muslim and Sikh Immigrants Shape Our
• Multiracial Future by Deepa Iyer 
• What We Are: A Novel by Peter Nathaniel Malae
• Yellow: Race in America Beyond Black and White by Frank Wu
• Yellow Peril!: An Archive of Anti-Asian Fear by John Kuo Wei Tchen and Dylan Yeats

At the beginning of quarantine, my parents had to make a choice if they would allow me to go out and run in my own neighborhood because they were afraid for my safety.
- San Diego County student

More to Explore

Acknowledging Anti-Asian Hate

• Joint Statement from ADL and Committee of 100 on the Rise of Anti-Asian Xenophobia and Hate
• Challenging Anti-Asian Bias and Acting as an Ally
• Microaggressions In Our Lives
• Reports of Anti-Asian Assaults, Harassment and Hate Crimes Rise as Coronavirus Spreads
• KPBS Asian Americans

Additional Reading

• Celebrating Chinese New Year
• An Anthology of Asian American Writers
• PoPo's Lucky Chinese New Year
• Writing Against Racial Injury
• Nian
• Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning
• Celebrate Chinese New Year
• Little Sen's Chinese Holiday
• Asian-Americans Who Inspire Us
• Ruby's Chinese New Year

Additional Resources

• Asian American and Pacific Islander Students in Focus: Experiences During the COVID-19 Pandemic
• Being an Asian American student is a nightmare right now
• Challenging the Persistent Model-Minority Myth
• Humanizing Asian Americans in the Classroom Through Children’s Literature
• I am Asian American
• Not All Asian Americans Are the Same. So Why Do School Data Treat Us That Way?
• Supporting Asian, Asian American, and Pacific Islander Students and Families: Tips for Educators in K–12 Settings

 

Special thanks to the Asian American Education Project for their collaboration on this guide.