This year, February 12th marked the first day of the Lunar New Year. Jessica Ho, User Acquisition Manager based in our Zynga San Francisco office, describes what her Lunar New Year celebration entailed and how the Zynga Asian Pacific Islander (ZAPI) employee resource group contributed to this years’ festivities.

Lunar New Year which is celebrated across Asian countries as Chinese Spring Festival, Korean Seollal, Vietnamese Tết, or simply Lunar New Year, is one of the most important holidays of the year. Though this years’ celebrations may look a little different, I’m finding comfort in the family Facetimes and improvised at-home rituals that evoke the same feelings of togetherness and optimism that the Lunar New Year brings.

Each region of China has different traditions and customs to welcome the new year. Common to many is the red envelope. As a child, I was always excited to receive money from my parents and older relatives and after blurting out my thanks, would rush into my room to count out my haul. The practice of gifting a red envelope is much more meaningful however; when we gift red envelopes, we’re wrapping a blessing in a lucky red pouch as a symbol of well-wishes for our recipients.

In Chinese culture, each new year is represented by a different zodiac animal. 2021 is the Year of the Ox, whose traits bring strength, patience and calm, made even more significant in the context of this year. Like Western new year celebrations, the Chinese New Year is a chance for us to rid ourselves of the past year’s negativity and welcome a new beginning. The Zynga Asian Pacific Islander (ZAPI) employee resource group sent it’s members Lunar New Year boxes to help celebrate this holiday.

ZAPI engages and fosters a Zynga community for Asians and Pacific Islanders (hereafter “API”), along with their allies to connect internally and externally on the API workplace experience. We strive to educate and celebrate the diverse API representation while building networks for personal and professional growth within Zynga and expanding our community outreach.

We look forward to the future and hope for a better and more prosperous year. 新年快樂！恭喜發財！