On Friday, January 31st, 2014, more than a billion people of Chinese origin will usher in the first day of the year 4712. Known as the Lunar New Year or Spring Festival, it marks the beginning of the longest and most significant of all Chinese festivals. As the name indicates, the four-thousand-year-old tradition whose date is determined by the lunar calendar, began as a way to mark the end of the dreary winter season and the beginning of spring.