Beginning of Spring

The Beginning of Spring falls on February 3,4 or 5, and the spring ends with the coming of the Beginning of Summer. The Beginning of Spring in early February, however, also entails new year celebrations, when Chinese people munch on spring pancakes and spring rolls, a tradition known as "a bite of Spring". The Chinese Lunar New Year falls either before or after the Beginning of Spring. Known in earlier times as yuanri or yuandan, the Chinese Lunar New Year's Day was later renamed "the Spring festival" to distinguish it from the New Year's Day on the Gregorian calendar. The term yuandan, therefore, refers to January 1.