LUNAR NEW YEAR

A new year centred on reunion

Spring Fes­ti­val, or Chun­jie, is a sea­son of reunion, renew­al and hos­pi­tal­i­ty across Chi­na. Pub­lic lanterns and per­for­mances make strik­ing pho­tographs, but the celebration’s cen­tre is often a house­hold: peo­ple return­ing home, prepar­ing food, greet­ing rel­a­tives and mak­ing time for rela­tion­ships. For a vis­i­tor, under­stand­ing that pri­vate dimen­sion is as impor­tant as find­ing a busy tem­ple fair.

The cal­en­dar is luniso­lar, so the Gre­go­ri­an date changes each year. New Year’s Eve leads into the first day of the first lunar month, while the Lantern Fes­ti­val on the fif­teenth day pro­vides a lat­er mile­stone. Prepa­ra­tions begin ear­li­er and region­al cus­toms do not all fol­low an iden­ti­cal timetable. The cul­tur­al sea­son, offi­cial pub­lic hol­i­day and dates of a par­tic­u­lar pub­lic event are three dif­fer­ent things.

Preparing the home and the table

Clean­ing, shop­ping and dec­o­rat­ing turn the approach to the new year into an event in its own right. Red paper, aus­pi­cious char­ac­ters and paired cou­plets can trans­form a door­way. Mar­kets dis­play gifts and sea­son­al foods; flower mar­kets add a par­tic­u­lar­ly dis­tinc­tive dimen­sion in parts of south­ern Chi­na. Every­day com­mer­cial spaces also join in, mak­ing a neigh­bour­hood walk reward­ing before the main hol­i­day begins.

These details are not inter­change­able props. A cou­plet has words, a char­ac­ter has mean­ing and an arrange­ment may reflect a family’s region­al prac­tice. Ask before enter­ing a pri­vate court­yard or pho­tograph­ing someone’s prepa­ra­tions at close range. Buy­ing a small item from a mak­er or tak­ing time to under­stand a dis­play can be more mean­ing­ful than col­lect­ing pic­tures of red dec­o­ra­tions alone.

New Year’s Eve and the reunion meal

The reunion din­ner is a major emo­tion­al focus of the sea­son. Trav­ellers may encounter restau­rants offer­ing spe­cial menus, but a com­mer­cial meal is not the same as an invi­ta­tion into a fam­i­ly cel­e­bra­tion. If invit­ed to a home, ask your host about tim­ing, gifts and dietary needs rather than assum­ing a sin­gle nation­al eti­quette cov­ers every house­hold.

Food car­ries asso­ci­a­tions with abun­dance, togeth­er­ness and good wish­es, expressed through local ingre­di­ents and word­play as well as fam­i­ly pref­er­ence. Dumplings are strong­ly asso­ci­at­ed with cel­e­bra­tions in many north­ern house­holds; rice cakes and sweet rice balls appear in oth­er con­texts and regions. Fish is often linked with wish­es for plen­ty. None of these exam­ples means every fam­i­ly eats the same dish­es or fol­lows the same sequence.

Greetings, gifts and red envelopes

Vis­its to rel­a­tives and friends extend the cel­e­bra­tion beyond one din­ner. New Year greet­ings express hopes for the months ahead, while gifts can acknowl­edge rela­tion­ships between gen­er­a­tions. Red envelopes are espe­cial­ly famil­iar, but who gives them, how much they con­tain and how they are pre­sent­ed depends on the peo­ple involved. Dig­i­tal ver­sions now sit along­side paper ones.

Vis­i­tors do not need to imi­tate every prac­tice to show respect. A warm greet­ing, punc­tu­al arrival and atten­tion to a host’s lead are a bet­ter start­ing point than treat­ing an enve­lope as a sou­venir trans­ac­tion. Avoid ask­ing strangers about amounts or pho­tograph­ing chil­dren receiv­ing gifts with­out per­mis­sion. The val­ue of the exchange lies in the rela­tion­ship, not its use­ful­ness as a trav­el anec­dote.

Temple fairs and public gathering

Tem­ple fairs bring pub­lic activ­i­ty into the sea­son in some cities and regions. Depend­ing on the pro­gramme, vis­i­tors may encounter food, crafts, games or per­for­mances in a his­toric or park set­ting. A site’s name does not mean every activ­i­ty is reli­gious, just as an enter­tain­ment pro­gramme does not turn a work­ing tem­ple into an unre­strict­ed pho­tog­ra­phy loca­tion.

Fol­low queues, tick­et con­di­tions and wor­ship-area rules. Incense, prayer and offer­ings are per­son­al acts rather than per­for­mances arranged for vis­i­tors. Allow peo­ple space, keep voic­es low where appro­pri­ate and fol­low any restric­tions on cam­eras. Events can be crowd­ed enough that choos­ing a qui­eter ses­sion offers a more atten­tive expe­ri­ence than try­ing to reach the busiest entrance at peak time.

Performance and regional identity

Lion dances, drag­on dances, opera, per­cus­sion and oth­er per­for­mances may appear in pub­lic pro­grammes, but avail­abil­i­ty varies by local­i­ty and edi­tion. The rel­e­vant ques­tion is not whether Chi­na has these tra­di­tions, but whether the event you plan to vis­it has con­firmed one on your date. Keep clear of per­form­ers’ routes and nev­er step into a rou­tine for a pho­to­graph.

China’s size makes region­al dis­tinc­tions essen­tial. A north­ern win­ter park fair, a Guang­dong flower mar­ket and a lantern dis­play in a south­ern city can all belong to the same sea­son while look­ing and feel­ing very dif­fer­ent. Cli­mate, lan­guage, food, com­mu­ni­ty his­to­ry and local arrange­ments shape the expe­ri­ence. One city can­not rep­re­sent every house­hold or region.

Lanterns and the fifteenth day

Lanterns are vis­i­ble through­out the sea­son, while the Lantern Fes­ti­val marks the fif­teenth day of the first lunar month. Dis­plays may fea­ture elab­o­rate illu­mi­nat­ed struc­tures, rid­dles and local food tra­di­tions. Some instal­la­tions run over a longer peri­od; oth­ers have lim­it­ed ses­sions or timed admis­sion. Check the organiser’s actu­al dates rather than assum­ing every dis­play opens on New Year’s Day.

Evening light cre­ates beau­ti­ful scenes, but it also brings queues and pres­sure around pop­u­lar view­ing spots. Book a con­firmed ses­sion where required, allow enough time for entry and keep a real­is­tic route back to your hotel. A lantern pho­to­graph from an ear­li­er year illus­trates an artis­tic tra­di­tion; it does not promise that the same instal­la­tion will return.

A holiday on the move

Chun­yun, the wider Spring Fes­ti­val trav­el peri­od, reflects the scale of jour­neys for reunion and return. Sta­tions and air­ports can be busy before and after the pub­lic hol­i­day, while indi­vid­ual neigh­bour­hood busi­ness­es may close as their own­ers trav­el. Pop­u­lar vis­i­tor attrac­tions can simul­ta­ne­ous­ly be crowd­ed. A qui­et street and a full rail­way sta­tion are not con­tra­dic­to­ry expe­ri­ences of the sea­son.

Plan a man­age­able region rather than a chain of dis­tant cities. Book trans­port through offi­cial chan­nels as its book­ing win­dow opens, con­firm accom­mo­da­tion recep­tion and meal options, and leave gen­er­ous sta­tion time. A flex­i­ble after­noon in one place is more valu­able than a missed con­nec­tion caused by assum­ing the hol­i­day oper­ates like an ordi­nary work­ing week.

Fireworks, sound and changing rules

Fire­works and fire­crack­ers have his­tor­i­cal asso­ci­a­tions with New Year, but cur­rent per­mis­sions are local and can be restric­tive. A pho­to­graph of a past dis­play is not evi­dence of per­mis­sion to buy, car­ry or light fire­works now. Use munic­i­pal notices and con­firmed pub­lic-event infor­ma­tion, and keep back from any autho­rised dis­play.

Con­tem­po­rary cel­e­bra­tions also include tele­vised enter­tain­ment, dig­i­tal greet­ings, shop­ping dis­plays and new forms of pub­lic art. Tra­di­tion sur­vives through peo­ple adapt­ing it, not through every house­hold repeat­ing a fixed scene. UNESCO’s 2024 recog­ni­tion of Spring Fes­ti­val social prac­tices reflects a liv­ing cul­tur­al cel­e­bra­tion rather than a script vis­i­tors should expect to see per­formed every­where.

Experiencing the season thoughtfully

Choose what you want to under­stand: fam­i­ly food, a city’s tem­ple-fair cul­ture, south­ern flower mar­kets or the artistry of lanterns. Then build a prac­ti­cal vis­it around con­firmed pub­lic oppor­tu­ni­ties. Keep pri­vate cel­e­bra­tions pri­vate unless invit­ed, and leave time to watch how ordi­nary streets and shops change through the hol­i­day.

The most reward­ing expe­ri­ence com­bines atten­tion to small details with an aware­ness of the peo­ple for whom this is a time to come home. A meal, a greet­ing, a craft stall and a care­ful­ly cho­sen pub­lic event can reveal more than a hur­ried tour of famous dec­o­ra­tions. Trav­el patient­ly and let the region you vis­it give the cel­e­bra­tion its own char­ac­ter.

When Lunar New Year Happens

In 2027, Lunar New Year’s Day is 6 Feb­ru­ary; New Year’s Eve is 5 Feb­ru­ary and the fif­teenth lunar day, the Lantern Fes­ti­val, is 20 Feb­ru­ary. The mainland’s offi­cial­ly announced Spring Fes­ti­val pub­lic hol­i­day runs 5–13 Feb­ru­ary 2027. The cul­tur­al sea­son and indi­vid­ual event dates extend beyond that leave peri­od. Hong Kong and Macao have sep­a­rate hol­i­day and vis­i­tor arrange­ments.

New Year’s Eve

Expect a strong focus on reunion meals and home cel­e­bra­tions on 5 Feb­ru­ary. Reserve a restau­rant that con­firms it will oper­ate, and do not assume late-night pub­lic trans­port or a city­wide count­down. Check your destination’s cur­rent arrange­ments.

New Year’s Day

Fam­i­ly vis­its, greet­ings and local obser­vances shape the first day. Some shops close while pop­u­lar pub­lic attrac­tions become busy. Con­firm open­ing hours direct­ly and keep a flex­i­ble day.

Major City Celebrations

Bei­jing can offer win­ter fair set­tings; Shang­hai com­bines urban dec­o­ra­tions with local cul­tur­al attrac­tions; Guangzhou and near­by cities have dis­tinc­tive flower-mar­ket tra­di­tions. These are des­ti­na­tion choic­es, not con­firmed 2027 pro­grammes. Select actu­al events only after munic­i­pal or venue announce­ments.

Temple Fairs

Check the edi­tion, loca­tion, dates, tick­ets, capac­i­ty and wor­ship-area rules for each fair. A pre­vi­ous Ditan or Guang­fu pro­gramme does not estab­lish the next sched­ule. Allow extra time for queues and sta­tion exits.

Lantern Festival

The fif­teenth day falls on 20 Feb­ru­ary 2027. Lantern instal­la­tions may run before and after it, with sep­a­rate timed ses­sions. Ver­i­fy the organiser’s cal­en­dar and return trans­port for your cho­sen evening.

Regional Differences

North­ern con­di­tions can be very cold, while south­ern cities need dif­fer­ent cloth­ing and may high­light dif­fer­ent foods or flo­ral dis­plays. Rur­al and urban expe­ri­ences also dif­fer. Choose a region based on its cur­rent pro­gramme and your trav­el inter­ests.

Best Time to Arrive

Arrive before your first booked event, with hotel and onward trans­port con­firmed. Pre-hol­i­day prepa­ra­tions can be reward­ing but coin­cide with reunion trav­el. Avoid depend­ing on an unbooked long-dis­tance train at the busiest time.

1. Trav­el to your base and explore pre-New Year prepa­ra­tions.
2. Enjoy a booked reunion-style restau­rant meal or a pri­vate din­ner only if invit­ed.
3. Observe the New Year tran­si­tion accord­ing to local rules.
4. Leave room for first-day greet­ings and neigh­bour­hood walks.
5. Vis­it a con­firmed tem­ple fair or pub­lic activ­i­ty.
6. Allow for lat­er hol­i­day trav­el and chang­ing open­ing hours.
7. Attend a con­firmed lantern dis­play around the fif­teenth day.

Transport and accommodation

Book flights and hotels ear­ly, then mon­i­tor the offi­cial rail­way release win­dow. Chi­na Rail­way cur­rent­ly states a 15-day advance-sale peri­od includ­ing the trav­el day, with release times vary­ing by sta­tion and tem­po­rary adjust­ments pos­si­ble. Cre­ate and ver­i­fy your 12306 account before tick­ets open; do not assume a book­ing agent can guar­an­tee a train months ahead.

Use the cor­rect pass­port details for real-name tick­ets and car­ry the orig­i­nal trav­el doc­u­ment required for your jour­ney. Allow time for sta­tion secu­ri­ty, doc­u­ment checks and the walk to the cor­rect gate. Con­firm the exact sta­tion: major cities have sev­er­al, often far apart.

Meals, openings and winter conditions

Ask your hotel which restau­rants and ser­vices will oper­ate through the hol­i­day. Reserve impor­tant meals and check attrac­tions indi­vid­u­al­ly. Crowds at a major site do not mean every near­by inde­pen­dent busi­ness is open. Pack for the region, with warm lay­ers for north­ern out­door queues and a check of local weath­er and air-qual­i­ty advice.

Payments and connectivity

Offi­cial vis­i­tor guid­ance sup­ports link­ing eli­gi­ble inter­na­tion­al cards to Ali­pay or Weix­in Pay, sub­ject to ver­i­fi­ca­tion and cur­rent account rules. Set up and test pay­ment meth­ods before rely­ing on them, and keep a prac­ti­cal back­up. A for­eign card is not accept­ed at every small stall.

Check your phone’s com­pat­i­bil­i­ty and the actu­al cov­er­age, acti­va­tion and access con­di­tions of a SIM, roam­ing plan or trav­el eSIM. Save hotel address­es in Chi­nese, tick­ets and trans­la­tion tools offline. Do not assume every over­seas app or ser­vice will work as it does at home.

Respectful participation

Fol­low hosts on gifts and red-enve­lope eti­quette rather than impos­ing a fixed amount or cus­tom. Ask before pho­tograph­ing wor­ship or fam­i­ly inter­ac­tions. Fol­low local fire­works con­trols; old pic­tures do not estab­lish cur­rent per­mis­sion. Keep clear of per­for­mance routes and leave crowd­ed entrances if staff direct you else­where.

Common Mistakes

• Con­fus­ing the 2027 pub­lic hol­i­day with the whole cul­tur­al sea­son.
• Assum­ing a pre­vi­ous year’s tem­ple fair or lantern pro­gramme repeats.
• Leav­ing rail­way book­ing until arriv­ing at the sta­tion.
• Plan­ning too many dis­tant cities dur­ing reunion trav­el.
• Assum­ing restau­rants and small shops keep ordi­nary hours.
• Rely­ing on one untest­ed pay­ment app or mobile con­nec­tion.
• Treat­ing fam­i­ly homes or wor­ship as unre­strict­ed vis­i­tor attrac­tions.
• Assum­ing fire­works are per­mit­ted every­where.

Essential Lunar New Year Experience

Choose one city or region, stay sev­er­al nights and com­bine a con­firmed pub­lic event with food and neigh­bour­hood explo­ration. Vis­it a mar­ket dur­ing prepa­ra­tions, reserve a meal and allow a flex­i­ble day for hol­i­day open­ing changes. If you are invit­ed into a home, pri­ori­tise the host’s plans rather than a sight­see­ing check­list.

Full Festive-Season Experience

For a longer trip, dis­tin­guish prepa­ra­tions, New Year’s Eve, the first days and the Lantern Fes­ti­val. You do not need to trav­el across the coun­try to see that pro­gres­sion. A sta­ble base can show how dec­o­ra­tions, crowds and local rou­tines change over the sea­son.

Add a sec­ond region only when trans­port and accom­mo­da­tion are secure. Com­pare local food, crafts or flower-mar­ket tra­di­tions with curios­i­ty rather than decid­ing one city is the defin­i­tive ver­sion of New Year.

Best Cultural Experience

Spend time with the mean­ing behind a cou­plet, a food or a per­for­mance. Use a knowl­edge­able local guide where use­ful, and choose pub­lic activ­i­ties that wel­come vis­i­tors. Do not seek access to pri­vate rit­u­als sim­ply for nov­el­ty. Respect­ful atten­tion, patience and a few well-cho­sen expe­ri­ences reveal more than rush­ing between pho­to spots.

Best Subjects

Pho­to­graph lanterns, cal­lig­ra­phy, cou­plets, mar­ket dis­plays, sea­son­al food and pub­lic per­for­mances. Add wide street scenes to explain the set­ting. Obtain per­mis­sion for close por­traits and fam­i­ly moments.

Best Light

Day­light suits crafts and food, while blue hour bal­ances lanterns with the sky. Pro­tect bright lights from over­ex­po­sure and allow for cold-weath­er bat­tery drain.

Best Positions

Use pub­lic view­ing areas, keep exits clear and obey stew­ards. Nev­er block tem­ple entrances or per­form­ers’ routes. Step aside before review­ing pho­tographs.

Lantern Photography

Expose for impor­tant illu­mi­nat­ed details and brace your cam­era. A tri­pod may be restrict­ed or imprac­ti­cal in crowds; do not make an obsta­cle for oth­er vis­i­tors.

Performance Photography

Use a faster shut­ter for lion or drag­on move­ments and raise ISO as nec­es­sary. Pho­to­graph only con­firmed per­for­mances from per­mit­ted places. Avoid flash and stay out­side the per­for­mance route.

Food & Detail Photography

Ask a stall­hold­er before close shots and buy some­thing if you are using their work as your sub­ject. Use nat­ur­al light where pos­si­ble and include enough con­text to explain region­al dif­fer­ences.

Temple & Family Photography

Respect no-cam­era signs and per­son­al prayer. An open door­way is not an invi­ta­tion into a pri­vate cel­e­bra­tion. Ask guardians before pho­tograph­ing chil­dren.

Phone Photography

Clean the lens, reduce expo­sure around lanterns and use night mode for still dis­plays rather than fast move­ment. Keep bat­tery for nav­i­ga­tion and pay­ments.

What Not to Do

Do not light fire­works for a pho­to­graph, enter restrict­ed wor­ship areas, climb instal­la­tions, obstruct crowds or pho­to­graph pri­vate fam­i­ly moments with­out con­sent. Archival fire­works images in this gallery do not imply cur­rent per­mis­sion.