By Jill K. Applegate

Don’t lament that the holidays are over, there’s still festivities to enjoy. This year, Chinese New Year is on February 14. Ring in a new year of prosperity and health with these dumplings of holiday info.

Go Tiger!

Chinese New Year is in February this year and 2010 is the Year of the Tiger. Queen Elizabeth II, Dwight Eisenhower, Beethoven, and Marilyn Monroe were all born in the year of the tiger, according to About.com. The motto of people born in the year of the tiger is “I win!”

Check the Calendar

Since the Chinese year is not based on the same Gregorian calendar we use in the West, if your birthday falls before the start of the Chinese New Year, your sign is actually the animal of the year before your birth. For example, if you were born on February 1, 2010, you’d be an ox (corresponding to year 2009) instead of a Tiger.

Sowing a Good Harvest

Like many ancient holidays, Chinese New Year celebrations started as end-of-harvest festivities when people would offer thanks for good harvests and make pleas and perform rituals to ensure a good crop in the following year.

Lighting Up the Night

In ancient China, people filled bamboo stems with gunpowder and lit them to create small explosions that were known to ward away evil spirits. These are the ancestors of modern fireworks, which today are deeply associated with the joyful time of year that is Chinese New Year, according to Wikipedia. In modern celebrations, revelers light the long fuse on a bundle of hundreds of red-papered firecrackers and soon the popping fills the air—still loud enough to drive the evil spirits away.

A Safe Show

Fireworks and firecrackers are a traditional and popular part of Chinese New Year, though many cities and regions have banned them due to the fire hazard—each year people using firecrackers suffer serious injuries. Since fireworks are so closely connected with the festivities, cities put on their own displays—safe fireworks shows—to keep the tradition alive.