Year of the Rat Stamp Released As Monterey Park Celebrates Lunar New Year

MONTEREY PARK (CBSLA) - The Year of the Rat forever stamp was released Saturday by the U.S. Postal Service at a ceremony during the 2020 Lunar New Year Festival  in Monterey Park.

The stamp features a rat mask inspired by the decorated masks used in the dragon dance, a hallmark of Lunar New Year parades.

Monterey Park's Lunar New Year Festival runs from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday and features food, shopping, and carnival rides.

There are also stage performances, including traditional Lion and Dragon dances, Chinese orchestra, folk dances, and Chinese martial arts.

Lunar New Year begins Jan. 25, the second new moon after the winter solstice. It can begin as early as Jan. 21 or as late as Feb. 20.

Lunar New Year is the most important holiday of the year for many Asian communities around the world and is primarily celebrated by people of Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Tibetan, Mongolian, Malaysian and Filipino heritage. It is known as Tet in Vietnam and the Spring Festival in China and elsewhere.

In communities across the United States, people shop for food and other supplies, hang decorations and ceremonially clean their homes and streets to welcome the new year with a fresh start.

Filled with symbolic meaning, the colors red and gold appear everywhere during this auspicious time of year. Red is considered very lucky, while gold is said to bring wealth. Each year is represented by an animal which appears in the Chinese zodiac.

(© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. City News Service contributed to this report.)