Lunar New Year 2022: Year of the Tiger!

Celebrate the Year of the Tiger!  

Lunar New Year is celebrated a little differently in every culture with varying traditions that signify good fortune and togetherness. Unlike the Gregorian calendar New Year, Lunar New Year is celebrated according to the lunar calendar and lasts multiple days! This year, it begins on February 1. 

Check out our Lunar New Year stories quiz on our Instagram page! Every day during Lunar New Year, we’ll upload a couple of new questions (including a couple of hits from last year’s quiz) and save all the old questions in our highlights so you’ll be able to revisit the questions again and again. We’ve also included some fun resources at the bottom of this post where you can find the answers to our Lunar New Year quiz.

Learn more about the Year of the Tiger and discover fun, local activities to join in on the fun!

• Learn 21 facts you might not have known about Lunar New Year! This website is a treasure trove of information on the Year of the Tiger – you won’t want to skim this.  
• Northwest Asian Weekly made a beautiful short film about the vibrant, empowering murals in the heart of Seattle’s Chinatown in the Internation District. 
• Learn some quick greetings and well-wishes from the Language Island to bring in the Lunar New Year. 
• “Is it really a celebration if there’s no food involved?” Learn about ten Chinese foods that will be on the table on Lunar New Year (and the superstitions that go along with them) in this article by How Stuff Works.

• For Kids: Listen and watch author Kat Zhang read Amy Wu and the Patchwork Dragon, the second book in the Amy Wu series, illustrated by Charlene Chua. The Patchwork Dragon follows Amy’s journey during Lunar New Year as she teaches others about her heritage. The book, second in a series of illustrated picture books for children, “shows how our schools often neglect to feature Eastern cultures in favor of Western cultures.” Zhang and Chua have also written Amy Wu and the Perfect Bao, and a third book, Amy Wu and the Warm Welcome, which will come out in May 2022.  
• For Kids: Listen to one of the many legends surrounding Lunar New Year in this animated short film from The Little Genius Workshop, “Nian | A Lunar New Year Story.” 
• For Kids: Watch a version of the legend of Nian in this Chinese-language animated video on YouTube (subtitles in English). 
• For Kids: This Chinese-language animated video explores the legend of Nian in relation to the Spring Festival, or Lunar New Year. 

Celebrate in and around Seattle 

• Originally supposed to be held on February 5, Chinatown’s Lunar New Year festivities have been postponed until April 30, 2022, in light of the recent COVID-19 outbreak. The festivities will include street vendors, dance groups, and music, and will take place at S. King Street with special performances on the main stage at Hing Hay Park. This event is family-friendly and free to the public.
  Date: April 30, 2022, from 11:00 am to 4:00 pm 
• Join Tết in Seattle, a Seattle Center Festal event held by volunteer group Tết in Seattle, to celebrate Vietnamese and Vietnamese American culture in the PNW through art, food, and music.
  Dates: February 12-13, 2022, from 12:00 pm to 6:00 pm 
• Don’t miss out on Seattle Night Market: Lunar New Year, Seattle’s largest indoor night market highlighting over 100 local shops and food trucks at Magnuson Park (Hanger 30) to ring in the New Year! The event is 21+ plus and is ticketed.
  Date: February 12, 2022, from 2:00 pm to 10:00 pm 

Celebrate in and around Portland  

• Take a stroll at Lan Su Chinese Garden and take part in their Tiger scavenger hunt, watch lion dancers, and participate in lantern lighting as they welcome the Year of the Tiger. Find more activities on their website!
  Date: February 8, 2022 

Celebrate in and around Tacoma 

• Celebrate the Lunar New Year, culture, and community at Lincoln District’s Annual 2022 New Year Celebration! Festivities include lion dancers, music, fireworks, a pop-up marketplace, and food trucks. This event is family-friendly and free to the public.
  Date: February 5, 2022, from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm 
• Bring the whole family to enjoy performances, cultural crafts, activities, food, and more at Asia Pacific Cultural Center’s Annual Lunar New Year celebration. This year, the featured country is China. This event is family-friendly and free to the public.
  Date: February 19, 2022, from 11:00 am to 6:00 pm 

Lunar New Year Quiz “Cheat Sheet”

Thought we were just going to give you the answers? Think again! Here is a list of resources where you can find information that will help you answer the questions in our Lunar New Year Quiz on Instagram. (Hint: Some of the resource titles may be named slightly differently than their quiz counterpart.)

Visiting after Lunar New Year? Don’t worry, we saved all the questions in the highlights reel on our Instagram profile!

• How did the 12 zodiac animals get chosen?
• What do Koreans eat for Lunar New Year?
• What should you buy at the beginning of Lunar New Year?
• What is Chap Go Mei?
• Bonus Question: Which Chinese dialect is Chap Goh Mei?
• What is guthuk?
• What does Koshogatsu mean?
• The quiz is still ongoing. Come back tomorrow for more Lunar New Year resources and questions!

Explore more local organizations celebrating Lunar New Year 2022 with “EchoX Community Directory.” Don’t see a group or individual who should be on here? Send an email to info@echox.org and someone from our team will amend the list.