Students Ready To Ring In Lunar New Year

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – The Lunar New Year starts Friday, and those who celebrate are rushing around to get ready.

As CBS2's Cindy Hsu reported, there were certain things they needed to do Thursday for good luck.

At P.S. 2 in Chinatown, students from China's "Dancing Into The Future" were visiting National Dance Institute to celebrate the Lunar New Year. The school and students were all decked out for the holiday.

The New Year is all about a fresh start. So you want to buy new clothes, clean your home and wash and cut your hair before the holiday begins, Hsu reported. It's a time to spend with family and eat lots of lucky food.

"You'll typically see fish, because in Chinese it means extra and abundance. You will also see noodles, because of long life," P.S. 2 Principal Silvana Ng said.

Oranges are also good luck, and people will eat lots of sweet candy for a sweet year. Children get excited about red envelopes filled with money. You'll also want to watch what you wear.

"You wear happy colors – so red is the right color to wear, not white. White symbolizes death, not dark colors," said Nancy Yao-Maasbach, with the Museum of Chinese in America.

For all you dog lovers, it's the Year of the Dog. So don't be surprised if you see them all over the place.

"This year I put a dog on my wall," 10-year-old Justin Li told Hsu.

The holiday lasts for 15 days, so there will be lots of celebrations in the next few weeks, especially at the Museum of Chinese in America.

"Everything from talks, to Chinatown walking tours, to the family festival, which is a culminating bit for us on Saturday," Yao-Maasbach said.

So there are lots of ways to celebrate.

You'll often hear some people say Chinese New Year, but it's more inclusive to use Lunar New Year, since it's celebrated by lots of different groups.