Chinese New Year of the Rabbit Celebrations

Chinese New Year is coming. Following the year of the Tiger, 2023 is the year of the rabbit, a year of peace and hope, as people in China believe. The year of the Rabbit, more specifically, water rabbit, will start on Jan 22, 2023 and the whole celebration will last till Feb 05, which is called Lantern Festival. 

Who Are the Rabbits?

According to the Chinese zodiac signs, there are 12 animals: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig. Each of these animals represent a particular year in a row of 12 years. For the year of rabbit, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011, 2023, and 2035 are all years of the rabbit. Whoever was born in one of these years is a rabbit and will experience the zodiac birth sign year (本命年 běn mìng nián) in 2023. 

Zodiac animals are the same in China, but different Chinese dialects pronounce them differently. Cantonese, as the major dialect, spoken in Hong Kong, Macau, and parts of Guangdong province in China, has its own distinctive features with some variations from Mandarin Chinese. Learning Cantonese can be a fun way to explore Chinese culture and understand more about the zodiac signs.

What Are the lucky Things for People Who Are Born in A Year of the Rabbit

For a Rabbit person, the following things can bring her/him luck in 2023. 

Lucky colors: red, pink, purple, and blue

Lucky numbers: 3,4,6, and numbers containing 3, 4, 6 (such as 34, 63)

How to Write Rabbit in Chinese

Rabbit in Chinese is 兔子 (tù zǐ). 

Chinese New Year Celebration

As the most important festival for Chinese people, Chinese New Year (or Spring Festival) is celebrated with lots of activities. For example, 

• Putting up decorations
• Lighting lanterns
• Firecrackers and fireworks
• Eating reunion dinner with family on Chinese New Year’s Eve (除夕 chú xì)
• Giving red envelopes to children
• Wearing new clothes

…

A Chinese children’s chant, 过新年 (Guò xīn nián) summarises the celebrations well. 

Note: this chant lyrics together with other activity worksheets are available in our shop.

Chinese New Year Decorations

Before the arrival of the Chinese New Year, people will clean their houses and put on some decorations. Some common decorations include

Character 福 (fu)

Rabbit 兔

Chinese New Year Greetings

During the Chinese New Year celebration, people will say greet each other with 吉祥话(lucky phrases).

For the year of the Rabbit specifically, we can also use the following sentences to express our greetings and wishes: 

• 兔年快乐 tù nián kuài lè – Happy year of the Rabbit!
• 兔年大吉 tù nián dà jí – Wishing you lots of luck this Rabbit year!
• 兔年兴旺 tù nián xīng wàng – Wishing you a prosperous year of the Rabbit!
• 祝你兔年幸福安康! zhù nǐ tù nián xìngfú ānkāng – May your year of the Rabbit be full of happiness and health!

You can use some simple greeting cards like below to engage kids to color and trace the words. A self-made greeting card is something special for the special day, isn’t it?

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Resources Mentioned Above

• Chinese Year of the Rabbit Learning Pack for Kids
• Celebrating New Year – a Chinese Chant to Learn about Chinese New Year
• Supplies for Chinese New Year and Culture Celebration
• Chinese Year of the Pig – Learn about Pigs in Chinese
• Chinese Year of the Tiger Learning Pack for Kids
• Year of the Rat Chinese Learning Activity Workbook
• Year of the Pig Chinese Learning Activity Workbook

• Lucky Phrases for Chinese New Year – Chinese Spring Festival Greetings