Chinese communities all across the world celebrate Chinese New Year in distinct ways. The festival celebrates the coming of the first new moon after the Winter solstice, which on a Western calendar might occur between January 21 and February 20. After that, the festivities last until the following full moon.
People gather for dinners with their families, watch parades, enjoy fireworks, and make resolutions for a prosperous new year during the celebrations.
Chinese New Year falls at different times each year because it depends on the phases of the moon. This is why you’ll often hear about the festival called Lunar New Year.
In 2022, The official New Year’s Day was 1st February. In 2023, the day will be 22nd January. However, across the Chinese diaspora, celebrations extend beyond the day itself. Most communities enjoy an extended break from work of at least a week to gather with family and friends.
The most popular Chinese New Year greeting in Mandarin is Xinnián hao, which translates literally to "New Year Goodness." The more formal salutation is Xinnián kuài lè, which translates to "New Year happiness."
In Cantonese, people greet each other with the phrase Gong hei fat choy, meaning wishing you prosperity and happiness.
Chinese New Year is steeped in symbolic meaning for Chinese people. It is a time of renewal, to turn over a new leaf and welcome in a new year that you hope will bring luck, fortune, and prosperity. At this time of transition, it’s also important to leave the old year behind. Chinese people like to make peace with the trials and tribulations of the previous year, meaning it’s a time to forgive and seek forgiveness so you can enter a new year afresh.
Also, Chinese families place great emphasis on family during this time. Children receive hongbao (red envelopes) with money inside as a symbol of prosperity. Since there is a culture of paying homage to deceased ancestors during the festival, people travel sometimes thousands of miles to return to their native towns to be with the ones they love.
The theme of future prosperity runs like a seam throughout festivities, and you can find auspicious symbolism in everything from decorations to the food eaten. Fish and long noodles are served because they represent good fortune (the word for fish sounds like surplus in mandarin, and the extra-long noodles represent a long and happy life). You’ll see the colour red everywhere as red symbolizes vibrant energy, fire, and vitality.
Chinese New Year festivities can look a little different and take on a distinct flavour in the many places worldwide that Chinese people call home.
Besides the standard focus on family and future fortune, the city of Hong Kong puts on a plethora of New Year-related festivities.
The year's liveliest and most vibrant celebration in Hong Kong is the Chinese New Year Night Parade. A variety of colourful floats, acrobats, costumed lions, dragon dancers, drummers, and firecrackers light up the town.
Watch a dazzling fireworks display over the iconic Hong Kong skyline at Victoria Harbor. The spellbinding 23-minute display takes place on the second day of the Lunar New Year and is not to be missed, with an accompanying laser and light show. Crowds are huge for the display that you can watch from either bank of the river, from one of the ferries, or from one of the many restaurants and bars with skyline views.
Horse racing is synonymous with Hong Kong, so it makes sense that the city would host a special horse racing event over the holiday. Chinese New Year Race Day is the most popular event in Hong Kong’s sporting calendar. The Chinese New Year Cup is the major event, although there are also traditional lion dances, performances, and a raffle with up to HK$290,000 in prizes.
As with many festivals around the world, Chinese New Year is a commercial event as well as a symbolic, spiritual time. People flock to Hong Kong from all over China because of the Chinese New Year sales where shops offer customers fantastic holiday bargains. Hong Kong already has a reputation as the place where many Chinese people go to get a great deal, and the many malls slash their prices during the festival. As well as the normal fare, many markets spring up selling various festive trinkets, usually related to whichever zodiac sign relates to the new year.
The final Hong Kong tradition around the new year is to buy many auspicious flowers and plants from the pop-up flower markets dotted throughout the city. Orchids, peonies and potted orange trees are the favourites among locals for various auspicious reasons.
A significant part of the Chinese New Year relates to a need to get things in order. The critical thing is to end the year well and start the new one as you mean to go on, giving yourself the best chance of prosperity, fortune, and good luck.
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