Chinese New Year is one of the most important holidays in China, celebrated for 15 days based on the lunar calendar. Decorations often feature red colors, cherry blossoms, and sunflowers to symbolize prosperity, luck, and a good new year. A significant festivity is the dragon dance, where a large puppet dragon is paraded through the streets with help from puppeteers. Dragons are highly symbolic in Chinese culture and represent qualities like good luck, power, wisdom, and kindness that people hope to possess in the new year. Chinese dragons have four claws, no wings but can fly, and are covered in scales rather than being viewed as evil like some Western dragons.

1. CHINESE DRAGONS

2. Chinese New Year February 7 th , 2007 Year of the Rat Based on the Lunar Calendar Year 4706 for Chinese Calendar

3. Importance of Chinese New Year One of the most important holidays, very festive. Celebrations last for 15 days Most decorations are red because this symbolizes prosperity and good luck Lots of cherry blossom decorations (luck) and sunflower decorations (good new year)

4. Chinese New Year Festivities One of the biggest parade spectacles is the “Dragon Dance” where a large paper dragon puppet “dances” with the help of lots of adult puppeteers.

5. Why Dragons? Dragons are very symbolic in Chinese culture. They symbolize: Good luck Power Dignity Wisdom Imperial authority kindness Basically, all of the good kinds of things that you would want in a new year!

6. Makings of a Chinese Dragon Chinese Dragons look very different from Western dragons

7. Chinese Dragons 4 claws (ordinary dragons have 4 toes, and imperial dragons have 5 toes) They are not evil, but kind and powerful Associated with water, rain, lakes, seas, oceans, and rivers 71 scales (81 positive yang, and 36 negative yin) They can fly, but do not have wings