Kerry Allen

Every 12 years, you have a different animal in the Chinese zodiac, and this is the year of the horse.

So state media in China, they've been saying that the horse symbolizes courage, wisdom, perseverance, and ambition.

So it's generally thought of as a very kind of powerful animal.

And the fire horse, because every rotation of the 12 years, you get one of the elements in Chinese astrology, and that kind of dictates the year's energy, personality, fortune.

It kind of gives some prospects for that year.

And yeah, it's known as the Lunar New Year because it's not just China that celebrates this holiday period.

The period in a way is kind of similar to Christmas.

It's a kind of extended period of time where people get together and celebrate.

And yeah, they do so not just in China, but other particularly East Asian countries like Vietnam, Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia.

People come together with their families.

They often have group meals and they exchange gifts.

And in China, some people like to give what's known as a hongbao, which is a red envelope that contains money.

You also in China, you have firework shows in some cities on the stroke of midnight to ring in the new year.

In terms of food, it depends upon people's specialities and also what country they're celebrating in.

But one of the things that people really like to do in China is they sit down and they watch a New Year's countdown show on the Chinese broadcaster CCTV.

And you get lots of song and dance performances this year.

People have been able to watch not just Chinese singers and actors put on shows, but also Westlife have been performing and John Legend.

No, sometimes they perform in English, but actually Celine Dion in previous years has performed in Chinese.

So that was really quite powerful for Chinese audiences to watch.

Yes.