MKsport Central China's Henan Province on January 25, 2025. Photo: IC" src="https://www.globaltimes.cn/Portals/0/attachment/2025/2025-01-26/9a395f50-4b9f-401e-b5aa-d750dcc87ee8.jpeg" />

Residents shop for Spring Festival decorations in snow in Kaifeng, Central China's Henan Province on January 25, 2025. Photo: IC

Standing at the Poly MGM Museum in Macao, Shanghai resident Li Xue hopes to find her Chinese zodiac animal. The museum exhibits four of the 12 bronze animal heads originally from Beijing's Old Summer Palace and retrieved after being lost overseas for long.

These national treasures receive so much attention partly because they embody the traditional Chinese culture of the 12 zodiacs, which has been preserved for thousands of years and symbolizes China's unique, rich historical heritage. The 12 zodiacs system is a major part of Chinese Spring Festival, which in 2025 celebrates the Year of the Snake.

Globally, following the release of a series of Year of the Snake stamps by the US Postal Service alongside a variety of zodiac stamps from countries like Japan and Thailand, the United Nations Postal Administration has also joined the trend with a stamp sheet.

"The rising popularity of Chinese zodiac culture exemplifies the growing global influence of Spring Festival culture," Zhang Yiwu, a professor of cultural studies at Peking University, told the Global Times. "With a rich history that has been shaped by thousands of years of agricultural civilization, Spring Festival culture has continually absorbed new elements over time and is now influencing the wider world, especially when it was listed as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity."

Dialogue with traditions

As the world enters the Year of the Snake, what auspicious elements this animal represents started to trend. In China, snake is often called "small dragon" by the public in the zodiac system, as many folk culture researchers believe even the image of the mythical dragon itself was inspired by snakes. One of the early books of mythology written before the Qin Dynasty (221BC-206BC), Shan Hai Jing, or Classic of the Mountains and Seas, recorded many gods and goddesses having an appearance of snake.

When embracing the arrival of each zodiac animal, Spring Festival celebrations are at a high time.

Nowadays, people continue the tradition of hanging up red lanterns, setting off fireworks and fixing red scrolls with rhyming phrases on their doors during Spring Festival to ward off evil spirits and attract good luck. Paper-cuts, the dragon dance, temple fairs and lantern festival events, are also related activities forming the happiest of days in a year.

"These festival celebrations are annual dialogue with traditions and ancestors, enabling us to find a firm reliance when facing the future," Xiao Fang, head of the Department of Anthropology and Folklore Studies at Beijing Normal University, told the Global Times. 

Photo taken on Jan. 21, 2025 shows a first-day cover with the stamps of the Year of the Snake at a launch ceremony in Budapest, Hungary. A commemorative sheet of postage stamps celebrating the Year of the Snake was unveiled at the China Cultural Center in Budapest, Hungary. Photo: Xinhua

Shared ideals

The Spring Festival is not only deeply and culturally rooted, it's also "blooming and flourishing. The changes of the times have given new meanings to the festival. From the Spring Festival travel rush and Spring Festival galas to new customs such as online "red envelope" grabbing activities, all these continuously inject new vitality into the Spring Festival.

Veteran folk custom expert Li Hanqiu emphasized that celebrating the Spring Festival also embodies the spirit of embracing new hopes, opportunities, achievements, and ideals that resonate with all humanity in the new year. 

As the Global Civilization Initiative proposed by President Xi Jinping says, in spite of differences in histories, cultures, political systems and development phases, countries around the world share a common aspiration for peace, development, equity, justice, democracy and freedom - the common values of humanity.

Therefore, the growing international influence of the Spring Festival is of great significance for promoting the realization of a community with a shared future for mankind, Li noted.

A series of celebrations have been held or are being prepared around the world. In Oregon, the US, local Chinese resident Dong Wenzhu told the Global Times that she has seen diverse celebration events for this Spring Festival. 

"The Spring Festival and its cultural practices, which represent the common aspirations of humankind such as hope, peace and harmony, are like a kite string. No matter how far the kites fly, or no matter how far away people are, their inner worlds will be touched by this string," Zhang emphasized.