The Lunar New Year is getting off to a great start, and Google is celebrating the occasion with a series of Google Doodles.
Lunar New Year 2023 kicked off today (January 22), marking the start of the Lunar Year of the Rabbit, and Google celebrated it with an ornate, stylized company name logo inside a jumping bunny.
“Each year after the first new moon in the lunar calendar, communities around the world set up decorations, prepare festive food, and gather with loved ones to welcome the new year,” Google wrote in an explanatory doodle. (will open in a new tab).
Related: What is the phase of the moon today? Moon Phases Explained 2023
This Lunar New Year 2023 Google Doodle version was created for South Korea. (Image credit: Google)
“The traditions of the Lunar New Year Festival date back to a popular legend dating back thousands of years. A mythical beast named Nian has been known to appear every Lunar New Year’s Eve and terrorize people and livestock,” the company added. “Loud noises, red color and fire scared Nian away, so it became a tradition for families to decorate their doors with red paper, set off fireworks and leave lanterns burning all night.”
The Year of the Rabbit comes after the year of the Tiger according to the lunar calendar.
“This year marks the Year of the Rabbit, which is associated with peace and prosperity,” Google’s description reads. The Doodle is made of paper in honor of Chinese paper cutting (jianzhi), which is a long tradition of the Lunar New Year.”
This version of the Lunar New Year 2023 Google Doodle was created for Vietnam to mark the start of the Year of the Cat. (Image credit: Google)
Google has released several different versions of the Lunar New Year 2023, including versions for South Korea. (will open in a new tab) and Vietnam, where it is known as Tet and started the Year of the Cat. (will open in a new tab).
“This holiday, known as Tet in Vietnamese, is celebrated by the communities every year during the Tet Festival, people often come to their extended families’ homes and celebrate the New Year with holidays. The Tet festival is traditionally celebrated for three days to spend time socializing with each other. with friends and colleagues, as well as visiting temples and burial places of ancestors. During family gatherings, people usually eat vegetables, banh chung (sticky rice cakes) and kukiu (pickled green onions),” writes Google.
“This year marks the year of the cat, which is associated with prosperity, intelligence and skill. The Doodle design is made from paper in honor of the art of paper folding and cutting traditionally practiced during the Lunar New Year.”
If you’re looking for amazing sights to celebrate the Lunar New Year, Venus and Saturn will shine very close to each other after sunset at planetary conjunction. You can watch Venus and Saturn together in a free webcast at 11:00 AM EDT (16:00 GMT).
Email Tariq Malik at tmalik@ or follow him @tariqjmalik. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Instagram.