Chinese New Year 2012: January 23

Like in many Asian countries, the Lunar New Year in China will be on January 23, 2012 (in our Gregorian calendar). The Chinese New Year (aka the “Spring Festival” or 春节) is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. According to the Chinese calendar, this year is the year of the water dragon (龙). I thought it would have been interesting to know for the lucky ones who are going to China this year :)

There are usually many celebrations with many customs and traditions. I guess there will be also celebrations in Belgium but as it’s not very easy to find them (except maybe at your local Sino-Vietnamese restaurant), here are three activities found for you:

• Jan. 21 at Salle Cadol, Brussels: Tết Nguyên Đán (Vietnamese New Year)
• Jan. 23 at Viage Casino, Brussels: Chinese New Year
• Jan. 28 at Théâtre Marni, Brussels: Asian New Year (Vietnamese Tết, read their newsletter on page 12)
• Jan. 28: Maasmechelen Village celebrates the Chinese New Year (week 19-31 in fact, see details in link)
• Jan. 29 at Salle de l’Orangerie, Brussels: Tết Nguyên Đán (Vietnamese New Year)
• Feb. 9 in Leuven: Chinese New Year Gala organised by the Confucius Institute at Group T (more info)
• Feb. 12 at Athénée Royal d’Etterbeek, Brussels: Tết Nguyên Đán (Vietnamese New Year)

If you know any other celebrations, feel free to post them in comments below!

Photo credit: Smiling dragon in the Forbidden City, Huế, Vietnam (from my photos on Flickr, licence CC-by-sa)
Edited on Jan. 10 to add Maasmechelen Village celebrations. Edited on Jan. 20 to add the three celebrations from belvietnam.