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6 minutes readContents
- What is Lunar New Year?
- Lunar New Year traditions and customs
- Where to travel for Chinese New Year celebrations
- Celebrate Chinese New Year by booking with ZenHotels
What is Lunar New Year?
Chinese New Year aligns with the Chinese zodiac and Chinese lunar calendar with each year forming part of a 12-year cycle with an assigned animal. This animal’s personality is considered to typify that year and is assigned to people born during that year. The Chinese New Year animal for 2025 is the snake. Traditionally, celebrations begin with the new moon and last until the following full moon, usually a 15-to-16-day cycle.
We can trace most traditions back to the legend of Nian (“year”), who would attack villagers at the start of each year. Bright lights, the color red, and loud noises were used to scare Nian away. We can see this influence in Lunar festivals today, from red envelopes to lanterns and dragon dancing.
New Year’s greetings differ with the Mandarin “Xinnian Kuaile” (Happy New Year) being traditional in northern China. By comparison, the Cantonese greeting is “Gong Hey Fat Choi” (Wishing you a prosperous year).
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Lunar New Year traditions and customs
People welcome the new year as a chance to sweep away any bad luck from the previous year and reconnect with their families. Lunar traditions are more structured than Western New Year celebrations with many activities serving to remove bad luck and celebrate the Nian legend.
Cleaning
Cleaning is a major activity in the days before the New Year with families deep cleaning their homes to remove bad luck. Once cleaned, houses are decorated in red to represent prosperity and good luck, and to tie into the Nian legend to protect against evil spirits.
Red envelopes
The most popular Chinese custom is the red envelopes, typically given to children and unmarried adults. Known as “hong bao” in Mandarin and “lai see” in Cantonese, these red envelopes are filled with money – usually in even numbers – to symbolize good luck for the year ahead.
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Food and the Kitchen God
Food also plays a major part in celebrations with the final day of the year being “Small year,” the day the Kitchen God returns to heaven to report on the family’s activities. Families often host a religious ceremony to mark this tradition and serve “lucky food” throughout the Chinese New Year.
Fish, dumplings, and Niángão are commonly eaten as symbols of prosperity, abundance, and wealth. New Year’s Eve dinner is one of the most important events in the Chinese calendar with families coming together for a reunion dinner. Shou Sui – after the New Year’s Eve dinner – is when families stay awake until the traditional fireworks to ward away Nian.
Lantern Festival
The Lantern Festival is the final event of the festival. It’s tradition to hang lanterns in temples and incorporate them into night-time parades alongside dragon dancing. The paper lanterns will light the path for the procession’s dragon and celebrate the first full moon of the year. These colorful lanterns were originally made to honor Buddha and are also used to guide lost souls back home.
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Where to travel for Chinese New Year celebrations
You can take part in Chinese New Year celebrations across the globe. Any city with a Chinatown will typically mark the festival with red decorations, dragon dancing, and fireworks.
We’re sharing five cities you can visit to celebrate Chinese New Year in 2025.
San Francisco, USA
- Where to stay: Axiom Hotel
San Francisco is home to the largest non-Asia Chinatown and is also the oldest Chinatown in the USA. You’ll find a series of events held throughout San Francisco’s Chinatown area, including a 100-float parade and traditional dragon dances with a 28-foot golden dragon. San Francisco hosts one of the few remaining illuminated night parades in North America and a traditional flower market fair.
Sydney, Australia
- Where to stay: PARKROYAL Darling Harbor, Sydney
Sydney is home to one of the largest Chinese communities outside of Asia with Lunar New Year being a major festival for the city. Even Sydney Harbor Bridge turns red to mark the occasion and you’ll find people decorating with lunar lanterns throughout the city streets. Expect lion dances, dragon boats, street parties, and light displays during Sydney’s Lunar Festival.
Photo: sydney.com
London, England
- Where to stay: Strand Palace Hotel
While London has a smaller Chinatown than San Francisco, it hosts one of the largest Lunar New Year celebrations outside of Asia. London’s iconic West End neighborhood and Trafalgar Square are at the heart of the New Year celebrations with Chinatown decorated in traditional dragons and lanterns. You can find family-friendly entertainment in Leicester Square, with a New Year parade from Charing Cross Road to Shaftesbury Avenue.
Beijing, China
Where to stay: Beijing Pudi Hotel
If you’re traveling to China for the Lunar New Year, you’ll want to start planning early to secure the best prices with top-ranked US airlines and book accommodation before it sells out. China’s capital is home to the Temple of Heaven and the Beijing National Stadium, which typically hosts New Year ceremonies.
It’s worth noting that many businesses and restaurants will have shorter opening hours due to the festival’s focus on family reunions. The Forbidden City is a must-visit destination during the Lunar New Year, usually hosting events and exhibitions to showcase its role in Imperialist celebrations.
Photo: Hung Chung Chih / Shutterstock.com
- Where to stay: Kempinski The One Suites Hotel Shanghai Downtown
If you want to experience a traditional Lunar New Year, head to Shanghai. This city is a popular tourist destination thanks to Shanghai Disney and has a rich heritage that comes to life during the Spring Festival. Longhua, the city’s oldest temple, is where many people will gather at midnight on New Year’s Eve to hear the bells ring out to ward off the Nian and evil spirits.
Celebrate Chinese New Year by booking with ZenHotels
Everyone should experience Chinese New Year at least once, whether you’re jetting off to Asia or celebrating in Chinatown. It’s a chance to wave goodbye to the year gone by and set yourself up for good luck and fortune in the year ahead.
Photo: redstone / Shutterstock.com
Although hosted over 15 days, most Lunar New Year celebrations will focus on the four days around New Year and the Lantern Festival at the first full moon of the year. Plan your vacation for Chinese New Year accordingly and check out local events in your destination for the best travel advice.
Get access to the best hotel rates for Chinese New Year with ZenHotels and download the ZenHotels mobile app to access exclusive rates even lower than on our website.
