Written by Nopality Magazine

Every year between January 21 and February 20, billions of people around the world come together as a part of “the world’s biggest annual migration” to celebrate the coveted Lunar New Year. The date is decided by the lunisolar calendar, typically falling on the new moon and marking the beginning of spring. With a history steeped in tradition, family, and food, Lunar New Year is a huge day of cultural significance for many Asian countries and diasporas. The holiday centers on welcoming new beginnings and the promise of good fortune and prosperity, which can be manifested by doing things like wearing red or cleaning the house. Depending on where it is celebrated, the festivities, rituals, and meals taking place can vary quite drastically, as each country has its own history about the meaning of this day.

How is Lunar New Year celebrated in China

China hosts perhaps some of the biggest celebrations for Chinese New Year, the most important holiday of the year. Lasting 15 days and recognized as an official national holiday, Chinese New Year originates from an old legend about a mythical beast called, “Nian,” which means, “year,” in Chinese. On the eve of every new year, Nian would terrorize villages by eating their livestock, crops, and sometimes even people. To prevent these attacks, people discovered that they could scare Nian away through loud noises (firecrackers and fireworks) and the color red (decorations and clothes).

On Chinese New Year’s Eve, many families will have a huge reunion dinner with symbolic dishes, like fish (representing abundance), noodles (long life), citrus fruits (luck and prosperity), dumplings (wealth and prosperity), and “Nian Gao” sticky rice cake (fortune). Certain days also determine what is consumed. On the morning of New Year's Day, many families practice vegetarianism, as a way to cleanse and purify the year. Buddha’s Delight is a traditional dish for this, including ingredients like wood ear mushrooms, dried tofu, snow peas, and rice vermicelli. On the 15th and final day, people will eat, “tangyuan,” glutinous rice balls containing a sweet filling and served in a homey broth to symbolize family reunion and togetherness.

Throughout the holiday, Chinese people will clean their homes to sweep away bad luck, honor their ancestors, wear red, and put up decorations. One of the biggest traditions is “Bai Nian,” where the young pay respects to their elders in exchange for a red envelope containing money. It’s also encouraged to greet elders on New Year’s Day with phrases wishing for health and success, such as “Gong Xi Fa Cai” (Gong Hei Fat Choy in Cantonese) and “Xin Nian Kuai Le.”

The Chinese zodiac determines what animal represents the year, which is often depicted in calendars and decorations. This year is the Year of the Horse: anyone born in 1990, 2002, 2014, and so on. For good luck and blessings, people born in the Year of the Horse are encouraged to wear red for every day of 2026.

How is Lunar New Year celebrated in Korea

The Korean Lunar New Year is known as “Seollal,” similarly marking the first day of the lunar calendar, but only lasting three days. Performing ancestral rites is a much bigger focal point of the holiday, with families participating in “charye,” a structured ritual where female relatives prepare food, and male relatives serve the food to their ancestors. They then engage in the final part of the ceremony “eumbok,” where they eat the food, gaining blessings from their ancestors. Koreans will also perform a ritual known as “Sebae” which involves deep, formal bows to elders while dressed in traditional clothing, “hanbok”.

Traditional foods involve tteokguk, a rice cake soup served on New Year’s Day, and jeon, a savory pancake consisting of vegetables, seafood, or meat. Other specialty dishes may include mandu (Korean dumplings), bulgogi (marinated beef), galbi jjim (braised short rib), japchae, and sikhye, a sweet rice beverage made from fermented malt and rice.

Playing games together is another special tradition among Korean families. Yut-nori is a popular board game played between two teams, requiring four special sticks that are thrown in the air and determine where players can move around the board. Hwatu, meaning flower battle, is a set of 48 playing cards with flower-themed suits and the basis of “GoStop”, a short, dynamic game involving strategy and collecting scoring combinations.

Unlike the boisterous festivities of Chinese New Year, Seollal is a quieter holiday dedicated to honoring ancestors and visiting family. Saehae bok mani badeuseyo to all who celebrate!

How is Lunar New Year celebrated in Mongolia

Bordering China and Russia, Mongolia is a country of approximately 3 million and composed of mostly ethnic Mongols. They celebrate “Tsagaan Sar,” which means “White Moon” to highlight purity for the upcoming year. The holiday involves cleaning homes, repairing broken items, wearing traditional garments, and preparing a large feast.

Mongols make buuz, large dumplings filled with grilled sheep, beef, or lamb, and bansh (smaller dumplings) to serve relatives, neighbors, and friends. They also make Ul Boov, biscuits made of flour, which are stacked on a plate in a triangle or square shape. They must be layered in odd numbers as this represents happiness. Other dishes include sheep’s tail, mutton, and other dairy products.

The large feast of New Year’s Eve, called “bituun,” or “no moon day”, will have rice cooked with curd, dumplings, a milk beverage called “airag,” and traditional cookies. Mongols worship the deity Baldan Lham and will typically prepare three pieces of ice and hay at the doorway.

On New Year’s Day, people wake up before sunrise and boil milk tea, offering the first cup to the earth and sky before serving their family members. As the sun rises, they visit elders and perform a “zolgokh greeting” by supporting their elbows in their hands as this signifies respect to one another. The holiday-specific greeting is “Amar baina uu?” which translates to, “Are you living peacefully?” Following the ceremony, families eat buuz and drink airag together, exchanging gifts and other goodwill.

How is Lunar New Year celebrated in Taiwan

Lunar New Year in Taiwan shares many similarities to Chinese New Year, but is rooted in more Buddhist and Taoist traditions, with families visiting temples to pray for prosperity. Significant dishes include chicken, chives, fruit, mustard greens, Nian Gao, and radish cakes.

How is Lunar New Year celebrated in Japan

Perhaps the only East Asian country that doesn’t celebrate Lunar New Year nationally, Japan adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1873 and therefore does not observe it. However, some Chinese communities and parts of the country will have their own small celebrations.

How is Lunar New Year celebrated in Vietnam

Tết, short for Tết Nguyên Đán, is the largest holiday in Vietnam, signifying an occasion to express gratitude to family, ancestors, and the gods. Like its east Asian counterpart, the New Year encourages decorations and hearty meals together with a focus on values of harmony and gratitude. One of the most standout traditions is preparing a five-fruit tray to present to the ancestors’ altar, giving thanks to the ones who came before and paved the way for future generations.

The holiday lasts between 7-9 days with an assortment of different activities, like wrapping Chung cake, ritual offerings, giving lucky money, and attending the pagoda or temple for purity of the soul. The kumquat, peach blossom, and apricot blossom trees are important symbols of Vietnamese culture, representing prosperity, health, and happiness. Families are encouraged to buy trees or fresh flower arrangements to announce the coming of Tet into their home.

Traditional foods include “Gac” sticky rice, Chung cake, “Gio lua” (Vietnamese sausage), and spring rolls, though they vary by region. The most significant tradition is Chúc Tết, where people extend good wishes to their family members on the first day of the new year. People also exchange money through lì xì.

How is Lunar New Year celebrated in Southeast Asia

Countries in Southeast Asia that celebrate Lunar New Year are the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore. In Malaysia, something unique is the consumption of Yee Sang, a salad of raw fish and shredded vegetables known as the “Prosperity Toss.” Other foods include love letters (kuih kapit) and pineapple tarts. Sometimes, when Chinese New Year and Eid Al-Fitr fall on the same days, Malaysians celebrate “Kongsi Raya” or “Gongxi Raya,” a uniquely Malaysian term bringing the communities together.

In the Philippines, the Tsinoy (Filipino-Chinese) community will have family gatherings and envelope gifting (ang pau). Singapore widely celebrates the new year as a country with ¾ of the population being Chinese. Its multicultural nature allows for exciting events like the Chingay Parade and River Hongbao Carnival, lion dances, and fireworks. Indonesians call the new year “imlek” and set aside time to visit temples, wash statues of deities, and buy new clothes.

While not nationally recognized in countries like Brunei, Bhutan, and Thailand, Lunar New Year is still observed, most commonly in ethnic Chinese communities. Evidently, there are many different ways to celebrate, though the values always center heavily on spending time with family and expressing gratitude.

Lunar New Year is a time of reset and preparation; a time of reflection, but also anticipated festivity and excitement. Whether its presence is felt through a parade in Chinatown or an intimate family dinner, there is no denying the cultural impact and pride this holiday imprints on people’s lives.

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How Lunar New Year is Celebrated Across the World