Lunar New Year, often called the Spring Festival or Chinese New Year, is the most important holiday in China and many other Asian communities. Every year is marked by a different animal and 2025 is the Year of the Snake.

Celebrated across Asia and beyond, it marks the start of a new year based on the cycles of the moon rather than the Gregorian calendar, when the majority of the United States and

This week’s new moon, on Wednesday, Jan. 29, will signal the beginning of the Chinese Lunar New Year, which this year is called the "Year of the Snake."