Chinese New Year

Today marks the beginning of the Chinese New Year, the most important holiday in the Chinese calendar. This year is the Year of the Ox, which symbolizes prosperity through calm, dependable hard work. For a look at how it is celebrated, check out the Big Picture.

Because the Chinese use a lunar calendar, based on the cycle of the moon, it falls on different dates on the Gregorian calendar every year. But in China, it begins the first day of the first month, and continues until the fifteenth day.

(Photo: Chinese earthquake survivors toast the Year of the Ox in a temporary shelter.)