culture

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Come and Tickle the Moon and celebrate another new year (year of the Rat!) on the Lunar Calendar in the emerging metropolitan that is San Diego. It will be a fun, unique, sexy, graceful, and classy night out. For a more traditional Lunar New Year celebration, visit the San Diego Chinese New Year Fair (www.sdcny.org) taking place downtown San Diego during the day.

The Lunar Calendar is based on the cycles of the moon. Each year is represented by a different animal sign, with the cycle repeating every twelve years. Traditionally, the Lunar New Year begins with the sighting of the new moon. It marks a new beginning where grudges are put aside and accounts settled. People wear new clothes, clean their homes to sweep away all traces of bad luck from the previous year, and cook enormous feasts. People also buy oranges and other fruit to symbolize prosperity and good fortune. One of many's favorite traditions is that children receive "lai see," lucky money in red envelopes.