Here's when the Chinese New Year starts in 2025, how long it lasts, where the Lunar New Year is celebrated and your guide to the Year of the Snake.

Dubai: The Year of the Snake begins on January 29, the date of the second new moon after the winter solstice, as part of a 12-year cycle. The Chinese New Year is determined by a lunisolar calendar, which is based on precise astronomical observation of the sun’s longitude and the phases of the moon.

China’s population has fallen for the third straight year, pointing to further demographic challenges for the world’s second most populous nation that is now facing both an aging population and an emerging shortage of working age people able to support their elders.

China recorded its third consecutive year of population decline in 2024, despite the country’s first increase in births in almost a decade in a year traditionally regarded as auspicious. Figures released on Friday by the National Bureau of Statistics showed the country recorded 9.