Summary: Chinese New Year runs Feb 15-23. Learn where to buy festive goods in Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou; experience customs like cleaning, reunions, red envelopes; and get travel tips for a safe celebration. Try symbolic desserts for prosperity.
The Chinese New Year will start from the 15th of February to the 23rd of February. As we usher in the year of the horse, the Expats Holidays team will always be here to help with your travel needs and offer an unforgettable travel experience. We have gathered some information for you, hoping to celebrate your Chinese New Year.
1. Where to Buy Chinese New Year Goods
If you happen to be in China recently, you can visit local markets to look for Chinese New Year goods. Buying New Year supplies is a must-do activity before the holiday, so don't miss out!
Shanghai
Traditional Markets & Local Shopping
Chenghuangmiao (City God Temple) Area: A classic spot for New Year snacks, decorations, candies, and souvenirs. You may also enjoy the festive vibe.
Local Markets: Many neighborhood markets sell dried goods, nuts, fruits, and ingredients for New Year dishes before the holiday.
Shopping Streets & Malls
East & West Nanjing Road: Department stores often set up Chinese New Year sections with gift boxes and festive items.
Huaihai Road: More upscale shopping; good for premium New Year gift sets.
Shanghai No.1 Department Store: Well-known for traditional New Year gift boxes and snacks.
Beijing
Markets & Wholesale Areas
Guanyuan Commodity Wholesale Market: Affordable decorations, snacks, and household New Year items.
Local Community Markets: Great for fresh food, dried goods, and traditional New Year ingredients.
Cultural & Shopping Areas
Wangfujing Street: Popular shopping area with New Year-themed products and gift boxes.
Qianmen Street: Traditional-style street selling snacks, sweets, and festive decorations.
Panjiayuan Market: Not a classic New Year market, but good for traditional crafts and decorative items.
Famous New Year Shopping Streets
Yide Road: The most famous New Year goods street in Guangzhou. Best place to buy dried seafood, candied fruits and snacks, red decorations, couplets and lanterns.
Wholesale & Food Markets
Jiangnan Fruit Wholesale Market: Popular for buying New Year fruits in bulk.
Huangsha Seafood Market: Fresh and dried seafood for New Year feasts.
Liwan Local Markets: Traditional Cantonese ingredients and snacks.
Flower Markets
Lingnan Flower Market: Ideal for New Year flowers like peach blossoms, orchids, and kumquat trees.
Temporary New Year Flower Markets: Set up across the city before Chinese New Year.
2. The Chinese New Year's customs
This is a great opportunity to experience the customs that the Chinese people practice during this holiday season with your friends or family. Pick one of the below customs and try it!
Clean the house
Sweep, mop, scrub, dust, vacuum, and steam. Do everything to make sure your home is spick and span before midnight on Chinese New Year's Eve. The aim here is to say goodbye to the old and embrace the new.
Tip: Not only clean the furniture of dust, but also change the sheets.
New Year's shopping
People will go for New Year shopping to buy new clothes, gifts for relatives, food, snacks, nuts, spring couplets, lanterns, and many other decorations to put in the house.
Tip: You can either buy everything from the supermarket or visit Nanjing East Road, Yu Garden and Tianzifang.
Hang up spring couplets
Before Chinese New Year, people will buy some spring couplets and other New Year decorations, including red lanterns, paper Cutouts and New Year's paintings, to put themselves in a jubilant mood. Hanging up those decorations is to keep evil away and pray for blessings, longevity, health, and peace.
Tip: You can easily buy the decorations in the supermarket. 2024 is the Year of the Dragon, so remember to choose some Dragon decorations.
Enjoy a family reunion dinner
Dinner is one of the major events of the Chinese New Year and is often considered the most important family gathering for Chinese people. Although every region in China has different customs, some common dishes can be found on every table such as chicken, pork, fish and vegetables.
Tips
1. Fish is intentionally left unfinished to be kept for the next day. The reason for this is to echo a Chinese phrase 年年有余(nián nián yǒu yú) which means "to have abundant profit every year".
2. Spring rolls often appear on the reunion dinner tables in Southern China to celebrate the coming of spring.
Give/receive red envelopes
The red envelopes are generally given out to children or younger unmarried relatives by those who are already married. By passing the money to children, elders hope that a year of good luck and blessings can also be delivered.
Tip: There is also a widespread convention that the number four should not appear in the amount, such as in 40, 400 and 444. The pronunciation of the word four in Mandarin is homophonous to the word "death". Furthermore, the amount of money contained in the envelope usually ends with an even digit.
Stay up late
This custom is called 守岁 (shǒu suì) and means to stay up late or all night on Chinese New Year's Eve. After the grand reunion dinner, all family members will sit together, chatting, playing cards or mahjong, and watch the CCTV gala to welcome the New Year.
Tip: The legend says that staying up late can delay the aging process of the elder family member and prolong their life. The longer children stay awake, the longer their parents will live.
Visit friends and relatives
On the second day of the Chinese New Year, families go out to visit their friends, and family with many gifts and are treated to many foods when arriving. It is a great time to wish each person luck, joy, and abundance in the New Year.
Tips
1. 新年快乐 Xīnnián kuàilè: Happy New Year.
2. 吉祥如意 jíxiáng rúyì: Good fortune according to your wishes.
3. 心想事成 Xīnxiǎng shì chéng: May all your wishes come true.
3. Travel Tips for Chinese New Year
Your safety is our first priority as always. We have gathered some information for you, hoping to make your Chinese New Year safer! Take care and be safe during the holiday season. If you have any travel issues or need any travel advice, we are here to support you as always.
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4. Chinese New Year desserts you can try
Desserts are made to give blessings for the next year. Both the names and looks are symbols of wishes for prosperity, happiness and auspiciousness. Though every region and even family has different customs, below you can find the most famous desserts.
Rice Cake 年糕 (nián gāo)
This dessert is something you offer your family members in order to wish them success in their careers and good health in the new year. In the north, people prefer to prepare the rice cake as a dessert, while in the south it is usually stir-fried with meat and vegetables for a savory dish.
Steamed Sponge Cake 发糕 (fā gāo)
The same as with the Rice Cake, the "gao" is still a wish for success. But the "fa" comes from the Chinese 发财 (Fā cái) which means to gain wealth and make a fortune. It is lightly sweetened, fluffy in appearance but dense.
Turnip Cake 萝卜糕 (luó bo gāo)
Turnip Cake is popular in southern China, especially in the Fujian and Guangdong provinces. In Chinese, "radish" (菜头 / cài tóu) has a similar pronunciation as "good luck and fortune" (好彩头). The main ingredient is shredded radish to which is added rice flour and other flavoring ingredients such as sausages, shiitake, dried shrimp, etc.
Osmanthus Jelly 桂花糕 (guì huā gāo)
The name of the jelly is a pun, "桂 / Guì" a homophone for贵, which means noble. Also, in Chinese floriography osmanthus represents auspiciousness, friendship and success.
Jujube Flower Cakes 枣花糕 (zǎo huā gāo)
Jujube (枣—zǎo) is a homophone of "early" (早). It is a wish for couples to have children soon or a wish for your dream to come true. A fter steaming, the dough rises to a light spongey textur,e so you obtain a "bouquet" of jujube flowers.
The Expats Holidays team would like to wish you a happy and prosperous Chinese New Year of the Horse. Please take care and stay safe during the holiday season. Should you experience any travel-related issues or require assistance or advice, our team is always here to support you.
If you need any assistance or wish to personalize your itinerary, please feel free to reach out to us on WeChat at Expatsholiday or drop us an email at [email protected].
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