Chinese New Year Stamps

Chinese Lunar New Year is the most important of Chinese holidays. The festival begins on the first day of the first month in the Chinese calendar and lasts 15 days to what it known as the lantern festival. In the Gregorian calendar, Chinese New Year falls on different dates each year, sometime between January 21 and February 20. typically the second new moon after the winter solstice. This animal zodiac for this year (26 Jan 2009 to 14 Feb 2010) is the Ox. It is celebrated in countries with large ethnic Chinese population and countries which have strong relations to China, such as Korea, Mongolia, Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines to name a few.

It is also celebrated in countries with large resident Chinese populations such as Canada, although not recognized as an official holiday. Several counties produce stamps to commemorate this festival.