Celebrate Lunar New Year like an Expert

chinese culture, cross cultural communication, holidayyvonne.liu.wolf

Can even celebrity craft and culture experts, like Martha Stewart, make a colossal faux pas?

Every year Lunar New Year’s Day changes according to a lunar calendar. For example, the Year of the Tiger arrives on February 1, 2022.

On February 16, 2018 the Year of the Dog arrived. Yet, Martha Stewart’s February 2018 issue featured the wrong Chinese Zodiac animal. Don’t let this happen to you.

Image downloaded from Marthastewart.com Notes added by Yvonne Wolf.
Image downloaded from Marthastewart.com Notes added by Yvonne Wolf.

If Martha Stewart intended to give an overview of celebrating the Lunar New Year by addressing all 12 Chinese Zodiac animals in one swift article, that would equivalent to saying, “Happy New Year from 2018 to 2030!” It wouldn’t make sense in any culture to send that kind of new year’s greeting.

What originally seemed like approaching another culture ends up looking like it is mocking and simplifying another culture.


Avoid Lunar New Year faux pas. Consult Yvonne before you approach your Lunar New Year celebrations with your Chinese partners. Celebrate Lunar New Year like an expert!

About Author

yvonne.liu.wolf

Yvonne Wolf was born in Taiwan and educated in the U.S. and Europe. She has extensive experience living and working internationally (Denmark and Japan). She is fluent in English, Mandarin, and Danish, and has studied Japanese, Spanish, and Greek. Between work and personal travel, she has visited more than 20 countries and well-traveled within the U.S. and Canada. She has worked with organizations and business executives focusing on communication strategies working with Chinese and East Asian partners. Among her many skills is mediating across cultural misunderstandings.