Chinese New Year is a festival beyond comparison. Although technically determined by the lunar calendar, which always falls between January and mid-February, for many people Chunji (Spring Festival) is more like a 40-day celebration. The trip involved has been called the largest annual human migration in the entire world. China houses 1.4 billion people (18.4% of the world's total population, but who's counting?), and nearly 3 billion people return to their hometowns across the country every year. Here are 10 important things to know about this massive annual event.
name the holiday
The holiday is not only celebrated in mainland China and Hong Kong. For the Chinese, Lunar New Year is a spring festival and is widely celebrated in Taiwan and Southeast Asia, in countries with large Chinese populations like Singapore and Malaysia. In Korea, the lunar new year is called Seollal. Vietnam, Tet. and Tibet, Lothal.
(Related: See Hong Kong Like Nat Geo Explorer.)

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Say “Happy New Year!”
In Mandarin, you would say Gong Xi fa Cai (恭き发财). In Cantonese, it is gong hei fat choi. Still, if you wish someone a Xin Nian Kuai Le (New Year kai 乐), literally “Happy New Year,” that's perfectly welcome, too.
I hear firecrackers going off.
Leading up to the Spring Festival, the streets of Chinese cities sounded like war zones. Firecrackers exploded throughout the night. Following the big squeeze of people setting off fireworks in urban areas, you'll probably only hear these sounds in small towns and rural areas. Firecrackers serve two purposes. For one, it's fun and festive. Second, they traditionally set out to scare the Dragon Lion Monster Nian. As legend has it, they attack villagers and sometimes eat children, but they can be scared away by loud noises.
(Related: Learn about other top New Year's celebrations around the world.)
read chinese horoscope
This year is the year of the snake. There are 12 Chinese zodiac signs, and these are taken much more seriously than the backs of tabids. Some signs like the Dragon are coveted because the Dragon is considered authoritative, strong, and successful. Couples aim to have a baby in the year of the Dragon. It is said that certain signs match well with others: the Dog (honest, loyal, independent) and the Rabbit (sensitive, reserved, warm) are considered to be a good pairing. Your sign is determined by your date of birth using the lunar calendar. So, if you were born between February 17, 1988 and February 5, 1989, you are a Dragon. You would think that the year of your Zodiac (Bemminyan, Favorite Year) would be lucky, but it's the opposite. You need to be careful and avoid bad luck.

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see red everywhere
In traditional and modern Chinese culture, red represents prosperity and happiness. It is considered a lucky color and people wear it in celebrations to have an auspicious new year and keep bad vibes away. Jumpsuits, sweaters, pants, scarves, socks, hats, anything is a game. If it's your zodiac year, you should wear red more than others. In addition to being scared of loud noises, Monster Nian is afraid of red. So, maybe red is not your favorite color and maybe you want to be closely protected every day. That's where red underwear comes in handy. Walk into a department store or stop by one of the many street stalls selling socks and underwear from December to February and you'll see pairs.
decorate for good luck
Walk around the old neighborhoods of Chinese cities (or countryside) and see the windows, walls, and doors of decorated people. Red paper squares with white characters like 福 (fú, fortune) are pasted diagonally. Red paper cuttings are taped to the windows so passersby can admire them, and red banners (two vertical, optional third hanging) showcase the spring festival couplets in gold. Masu. Similarly, in older areas, it is not uncommon to see giant salt-cured fish hanging from power lines drying next to laundry. Fish, symbolizing prosperity, is necessary for the Lunar New Year. Fish (鱼, Yu) is a homophone of ゆ (Yu), meaning surplus or redundant. In public buildings such as offices, hotels and malls, visitors will notice kumkat trees strung with red paper lanterns strung with tassels and placed for good luck and wealth. In Mandarin, kumkat is called jinju (golden fruit), and jin (gold) is the word for gold.

replacement envelope
Literally “red packets”, hong bao (红 package) are an important element of Chinese New Year. The cash inside is considered lucky money for the coming year. Hongbao is generally given by elders to the younger generation, especially children, but if you earn well, it is polite to share it with your parents or grandparents during this period. If you are married, you need to give Hong Bao. If you are single, you usually receive it. If you're invited to someone's home for Chinese New Year and you know they have kids, it's nice to put some cash into Hong Kong. If you're traveling north, ask for round numbers. In the south, use lucky numbers (6-8 ones). Don't give multiples of four. Number is a homonym for death.
cut hair quickly
It's nice to enter the new year without a split end, but it's more than that for many who celebrate the Spring Festival. By midnight on New Year's Day, hair salons are buzzing with revelers, all wanting to count on last year's bad luck and go out with a clean, shiny slate. Then I don't wash it for 24 hours so as not to rub my fortune off.

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rent a date
China's only child generation is now in their late 30s or early 40s. Many settle and have children with two parents and four grandparents. Taobao – Tech Titan Alibaba's Amazon competitor is considered the world's largest e-commerce website. Strengthen your solution. You can rent a boyfriend or girlfriend. Prices vary, but if your fake has to travel far to your hometown, expect to pay around $10 per hour and more than a day per day.
(Related: Read about the young and lonely hearts of China's shrinking cities.)
join in the fun
Spring festivals are celebrated at home with family. Restaurants are closed, but we'll be tucking into heaping plates of dumplings (饺子, jiao zi) leading up to the new year. The second symbol, jiao (jiao), means “exchange” and zi (zi) is an abbreviation for 11pm to 1am. In the city, you will not be invited to someone's house for dinner, a canopy of red lanterns will be strung overhead, and performances will be held every day. mondan rice square) and jiaoquan (doujiang, or delicious cruller best soaked in fresh soy milk).
This article was originally published on February 4, 2019 and updated on January 24, 2025.
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Photo by Jose Antonio Zamora, National Geographic Your Shot