This year, Lunar New Year begins today, Wednesday, Jan. 29, and ends Feb. 12. Lunar New Year, also widely regarded as Chinese New Year since the late 19th century when it gained global recognition through Chinese immigrant communities, is a centuries-old tradition rooted in the lunar calendar.

In honor of the Year of the Snake, let’s appreciate the strange anatomy and evolution of these slithery reptiles

The Lunar New Year begins today, Jan. 29. It's a complex holiday with much symbolism crammed into days of festivities filled with material abundance, but here's how to make sense of this millennia-old custom as the Green Bay area hosts its own Lunar New Year activities.