Chinese everywhere from Hong Kong to New York prepare to ring in the Chinese New Year, one of the most important celebrations on China's calendar.

Though the Year of the Horse still has more than a month to go, revelry for the Year of the Sheep is expected to start February 19, when parades, food and fireworks will fill streets everywhere.

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Based on the twelve-year Chinese cycle, every year has a designated animal and the sheep will usher in 2015.

The Chinese New Year is also often called the Lunar New Year, which includes other moon celebrations - such as those of Arab groups, Koreans and other Asian communities. But however people call it, the celebrations are important to the Chinese, who begin the festivities after the solstice, under the light of the second new moon.

Parties and gatherings mark the two weeks before Chinese New Year's Eve, but friends and family gather on the first day of a two-week celebration, feasting in revelry to welcome the Yuan Dan, or Lunar New Year Day.

The Chinese lunisolar calendar is the basis of the Chinese New Year, which is why New Year's Day in China happens on a different day in the Western Gregorian calendar.

The Chinese believe in an ancient myth that villagers in ancient times set food and red lanterns out yearly to get rid of Nian, a beast that would destroy crops throughout the year and terrorize children.

As a tribute to that heritage, these Chinese New Year is welcomed with art, good-luck phrases, and red lanterns. Revelers also wear new clothes and crop their hair for the celebrations.

TagsChinese New Year 2015, Year of the Sheep, 2015