Celebrating Chinese New Year with Friends

Holidays and Festivals

Chinese New Year in 2021 is celebrated on 12 February, but the festival actually begins on Chinese New Year’s Eve, with flower markets and large family gatherings. Not only is it celebrated in Greater China, it is also celebrated in communities with large ethnic Chinese populations around the world.

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Chinese New Year

Cny dinner (12) — **Celebrating Chinese New Year with old friends. Photo Credit: Accidental Travel Writer.**

China is a large and diverse country, and customs and traditions vary from place to place. However, two of the most universal customs on Chinese New Year’s Eve are cleaning house – sort of equivalent to spring cleaning in the West – and having a family reunion at the home of one of the more senior members of the extended family.

poon-choi — **Traditional Poon Choi at the Dynasty 8 Chinese restaurant. Photo Credit: Conrad Macao.**

***Lo Hei is often served at Chinese New Year banquets. Photo Credit: Studio Lounge, Hong Kong Disneyland.***

***Keeping up with the times, deep fried salted eggs with omnipork at the Ming Court Chinese restaurant. Photo Credit: Cordis, Hong Kong.***

**Chilled puddings with dried longons, wolfberries, and gold leaf at the Tao Li Chinese restaurant. Photo Credit: New World Millennium Hong Kong Hotel.**

Lavish banquets with yummy cuisine is a key feature of family reunions on Chinese New Year’s Eve.

In fact, in many ways, Chinese New Year holds the same cultural significance for the Chinese that Christmas does for people in the West.

To clarify, there are both family reunions and lots of food.

CNY Flower Markets

sheung-shui-chinese-new-year-night-market-entrance — **Entrance to the Chinese New Year Night Market in Sheung Shui in the Northern New Territories of Hong Kong in 2020.**

reclycling-point-at-cny-flower-market — **Recycling Point at the Sheung Shui CNY Flower Market in the Northern New Territories of Hong Kong in 2020. All photos by Accidental Travel Writer.**

On Chinese New Year’s Eve, there are flower markets in most Chinese cities, towns, and villages. And these markets remain open into the wee hours.

However, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the flower markets are likely to be much smaller in scale on Chinese New Year in 2021.

Chinese New Year is also known as Lunar New Year, since its date is based on the lunar calendar. However, in mainland China, it is called Spring Festival, since many traditional Chinese customs were suppressed on the Chinese mainland following the communist conquest of mainland China in 1949.

In addition to Greater China, Chinese Lunar New Year is also an official holiday in other countries with large Chinese communities such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Mauritius, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand.

However, the Lunar New Year has other names in yet other countries. For example, the Vietnamese call it Tet. And the Koreans called it Seollal. In fact, both countries were deeply influenced by Chinese culture.

Because Chinese New Year falls on a Friday this year, there will be long weekends in many countries, since the second (and sometimes third) day of the Lunar New Year is an official holiday in many of them.