Families prepare food in advance since using sharp objects on New Year’s Day is considered unlucky. Arguments and anger are avoided to ensure harmony, and sweeping or cleaning on the first day is seen as inauspicious, as it is believed to brush away good fortune. Breaking objects is considered a bad omen and is thought to bring bad luck. Since the dragon is a Chinese symbol of good fortune, a dragon dance highlights festival celebrations in many areas. Celebrations to usher out the old year and bring forth the luck and prosperity of the new one often include firecrackers, fireworks, and red clothes and decorations.
This practice reflects the common desire among the Chinese people to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new year, to rid themselves of past poverty and hardships, and to usher in a prosperous and auspicious life in the new year. As a substitute, large-scale fireworks displays have been sponsored by governments in Hong Kong and Singapore. While fireworks and firecrackers are traditionally very popular, some regions have banned them due to concerns over fire hazards. Business managers may also give bonuses in the form of red packets to employees.
- In traditional belief, individuals born in the Year of the Horse are often described as cheerful, energetic, independent, and proactive.
- With the demon vanquished, peace returned to the village, and in gratitude, the elders bestowed upon the courageous young man a red envelope filled with money as a token of appreciation for his valor and for freeing the village from the demon’s menace.
- Most reunion dinners also feature a communal hot pot, as it is believed to signify the coming together of the family members for the meal.
- The 10th month celebration is believed to be one of the prototypes of Chinese New Year.The records of the first Chinese New Year celebration can be traced to the Warring States period (475 – 221 BC).
- Some people prepare and enjoy special foods on certain days during the holiday.
- Since 1983, the Spring Festival Gala held by CCTV has become a “new custom” for Chinese people and an unmissable feast on New Year’s Eve every year.
What is the Chinese New Year?
Visitors will be showered with gifts after catching up over Lunar New Year treats. Bags are stocked with presents and fruits to give out at people’s homes. For instance, in some northern areas people tend to serve dumplings and noodles, whereas the south can’t live without steamed rice.
- Red packets are generally given by married couples to the younger unmarried members of the family.
- Traditional foods include carp for long life, whole fish for abundance, dumplings and spring rolls for wealth, long noodles for longevity, sticky rice cakes for success, and citrus fruits for good luck.
- The temperament traditionally attributed to the Horse – bold, enthusiastic, energetic – aligns naturally with the attributes of Yang Fire.
- According to Chinese metaphysics consultant Vicki Iskandar, the Year of the Horse comes every 12 years and the last time “we had the Fire Horse as the ‘pillar’ of the year was in 1966”.
- The Lunar New Year begins with the first new moon of the lunar calendar cycle and ends 15 days later with the first full moon.
- In Taiwan, spring travel is a significant event known as the Spring Festival travel rush.
- A reunion dinner is held on New Year’s Eve, during which family members gather for a celebration.
All about Lunar New Year
During Spring Festival, elders should distribute pre-prepared lucky money to younger generations as a Lunar New Year gift. Since 1983, the Spring Festival Gala held by CCTV has become a “new custom” for Chinese people and an unmissable feast on New Year’s Eve every year. This is an important part of Chinese New Year Celebration, where people prepare various delicacies such as fish, meat, vegetables, etc., symbolizing “surplus every year” and “steady progress”. It is a traditional custom that has a great influence and is widely spread among Chinese people. From then on, every New Year’s Eve, every household would stick red couplets and set off firecrackers; make candles burning brightly all night and keep watch for the New Year. It is not only a special moment symbolizing rebirth, hope, and reunion, but also reflects the reverence and respect for time and nature in traditional Chinese culture.
Why light firecrackers and wear red? Meet Nian
The beast is said to have terrorised people every year, until he was defeated due to his fear of red, loud noises and fire. Primarily in traditional Chinese culture, the colour red originates from the myth of a monster called Nian. This is why many people clean their homes before the celebrations, as many clean to remove any misfortune or bad luck lingering ahead of the new year. The 15-day festival is about saying goodbye to the past year and, like the season of spring itself, symbolises renewal. This is because it marks the beginning of the spring season and the end of winter in the traditional lunisolar Chinese calendar. While celebrations and traditions take place annually, the exact date of the Lunar New Year changes every year as it begins with the arrival of a new moon, which signifies the start of a new month.
Lunar New Year’s Eve: The Reunion Dinner
In northern China, people traditionally eat dumplings and noodles, while in the south, Nian Gao (sticky rice cake) is a must-have, symbolizing rising fortunes. Wearing new red clothes on New Year’s Day symbolizes a fresh start and invites good luck. New clothes, especially for children, add excitement to the holiday. To protect themselves from the bad luck of their Ben Ming Nian, those born in the Year of the Horse are encouraged to wear red throughout 2026. In 2026, the cycle brings us to the Horse, the seventh animal in the zodiac order. Festivities include red decorations, elaborate meals, thorough cleaning of homes, and visiting family.
Because it marks the beginning of the Lunar New Year and coincides with the return of spring and the revival of all things, people name it “Spring Festival”. The name “Spring Festival” literally means a festival celebrating the arrival of spring. As one of the most important and distinctive traditional Chinese folk festivals, Chinese New Year carries rich cultural connotations and profound national emotions. Although Vietnam replaces the Rabbit with the Cat in its zodiac sequence, the Year of the Horse remains consistent across these cultures, underscoring shared cosmological heritage. These practices reflect the enduring symbolic association between the horse and swift achievement. The horse, delayed by helping others along the way, finished seventh – reinforcing cultural values of loyalty and benevolence.
If in the previous year a death was experienced in the family, seven dishes are served. Most reunion dinners also feature a communal hot pot, as it is believed to signify the coming together of the family members for the meal. Nowadays, single women write their contact numbers on mandarin oranges and throw them into a river or a lake, after which single men collect the oranges and eat them.
Dates in the Chinese lunisolar calendar
And every year, a heavenly stem (one of five elements, which fall into the yin or yang category) is paired with an earthly branch (one of the 12 Chinese zodiac animals). Marking the first new moon of the lunar calendar, it falls on February 17 in 2026, kicking off the 15-day Spring Festival. Chinese New Year is not just one day but over 30 days of festivities and activities, which have their own calendar.
San Gabriel hosts an annual Chinese Gala at the San Gabriel Mission Playhouse in addition to its street festival. Neighboring Alhambra has also hosted a large festival since 1993 with many performances and street vendors. Monterey Park puts on the largest of such festivals, occupying 5 blocks in the city and attracting over 100,000 individuals. The Little Saigon area has hosted Tet celebrations since 1982 for its Chinese and Vietnamese communities.
Children born in the last lunar calendar year were Snakes, while those born on or after the Lunar New Year in 2027 will be Goats, and so on. Lunar New Year, widely considered the most important event of the year in China and Chinese communities around the planet, is nearly here. Keep in mind that different regions and minorities may celebrate the days on different dates, or have different names or practices for certain days. Each day of the 16-day-long festival has a name, and usually an assigned purpose or meaning. In the Chinese tradition, a person’s birth year—rather than their birth month—is considered key to understanding character and fortune. Many traditional dishes served during this festival reflect wishes for prosperity, health, and longevity.
Since Chinese New Year falls on different days of the week each year, the governments of some of these countries choose to adjust working days to create a longer public holiday. New Year’s celebrations continued under the Yuan dynasty, when people also gave nian gao (年糕, “year cakes”) to relatives. It is believed that placing the couplets on the door to the home in the days preceding the new year was widespread during the Song dynasty. The Chunlian (Spring Couplets) was written by Meng Chang, an emperor of the Later Shu (935–965 AD), during the Five Dynasties and Ringospin Casino Ten Kingdoms period：”新年納餘慶，嘉節號長春” (“Enjoying past legacies in the new year, the holiday foreseeing the long-lasting spring”). Eventually, men zhuang became a symbol of good luck, and people started sending them to friends on New Year’s Day, calling them by a new name, bai nian tie. During the Jin dynasty (266–420), people started the New Year’s Eve tradition of all-night revelry called shousui (守歲).
(If you haven’t prepared your own “gou” yet, here’s an easy recipe for radish cake, a beloved Lunar New Year dish.) That means eating these treats is believed to lead to improvements and growth in the coming year. This is why wearing the fiery color, along with hanging banners and lighting firecrackers or fireworks, are Lunar New Year traditions, all of which are still followed today. The man claimed to have scared Nian away by hanging red banners on his door, lighting firecrackers and donning red clothing. According to the legend, every Lunar New Year’s Eve this ferocious underwater beast with sharp teeth and horns would crawl onto the land and attack a nearby village.