This year, Lunar New Year begins today, Wednesday, Jan. 29, and ends Feb. 12. Lunar New Year, also widely regarded as Chinese New Year since the late 19th century when it gained global recognition through Chinese immigrant communities, is a centuries-old tradition rooted in the lunar calendar.

Asian American communities around the U.S. and around the world are ringing in the Year of the Snake Wednesday, including in New York City. The Lunar New Year, also known as the Chinese New Year or Spring Festival,

Lunar New Year — also commonly called Chinese New Year — marks the start of the new year based on lunar calendars, or monthly cycles of the moon's phases.   The lunar new year starts with the first new moon of the lunar calendar and ends on the first full moon,