Lunar New Year 2022: What is the Year of the Tiger and what does it symbolise?

The Lunar New Year, also known as the Chinese New Year, is being celebrated worldwide, with dances, music, fun and festivities to mark the end Year of the Ox and the start of the Year of the Tiger

On Tuesday (February 1), the Lunar New Year is being celebrated worldwide, with festivities still underway and can often last for up to 15 days. 

The Lunar New Year, which is also known as the Chinese New Year is celebrated as the Spring Festival in China and by the Asian diaspora. 

The celebrations have marked the end of the Year of the Ox. As per the Chinese zodiac, Ox is termed as "the good helper". It is a symbol of diligence, strength, honesty, persistence and wealth. 

Now, the Year of the Tiger has started. 

The ushered in the Year of the Tiger with a celebratory lion dance and the snap, crackle and pop of firecrackers.

In Chinese traditions firecrackers are believed to scare off evil spirits from the year to come and bring good fortune. 

The Tiger is the third of the 12-year cycle of animals that appear in the Chinese calendar and The Year of the Tiger is associated with the Earthly Branch symbol. 

People born during a Tiger Year are said to be natural leaders who are adventurous, courageous, energetic. 

This is a year of the Water Tiger and the water tiger represents kindness, gentleness, and smartness as water signs are calm in nature. 

 

In this image, visitors are walking through a display of winter lanterns at the REACH at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC.

The REACH was decorated with approximately 100 lanterns to celebrate the Lunar New Year.

New Yorkers also celebrated the Lunar New Year in Chinatown. The annual celebration marks two years since the downtown neighbourhood started feeling the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Year of the Tiger - it shows us the strength, the resiliency and the endurance as we move through COVID-19, as we move through crime, as we open our economy," said New York City Mayor Eric Adams. 

Pyongyang also celebrated the Lunar New Year as in this photo people are seen laying bouquets of flowers at the statues of late leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il on Mansu Hill. 

In this image, dancers can be seen performing the traditional Chinese lion dance to celebrate the beginning of the Lunar New Year in Mexico City. 

In this image, people are seen praying at the Man Mo Temple in Hong Kong.