The most important holiday celebrated in Hong Kong is just around the corner! In Asian culture, Lunar New Year signifies a new beginning that occurs on the new moon of the first lunar month. This year, it will fall on January 29, 2025, welcoming the year of the snake. Rituals and traditions spanning a 15-day period mark the holiday, also called Spring Festival, but how exactly do we celebrate Chinese New Year in Hong Kong?
Visit Lunar New Year fairs
Running from January 23-29, 15 Lunar New Year fairs across Hong Kong will feature dry goods, wet goods, and food stalls, drawing locals eager to partake themselves in the celebration. Situated in different districts in Hong Kong, they are normally open air markets flooded with stalls selling Chinese New Year decor, trinkets, flowers, candy, and snacks. It’s a fiery sight to see with lots of red that fits the highly fuelled aura of the atmosphere.
Buy New Clothes
The Lunar New Year emphasizes newness. Before the holiday officially begins, expect shopping malls to be jam-packed with people scurrying to buy new things. In particular, new festive clothes are a must. To wear a fresh set of clothes on the first day of the holiday symbolizes starting on a clean slate. Something noteworthy to mention is to never buy shoes. The word “shoes” has similar pronunciation to the word “rough” and the exasperated exclamation “Hai!” in Chinese, so buying them potentially brings bad luck.
Buy Plants With Auspicious Meanings
Fresh plants and flowers are bought for Chinese New Year. Not only do they represent fresh starts, certain flowers have auspicious meanings. Orchids are popular flowers to gift as they represent prosperity, luck and for those who want children, fertility. They make for beautiful home décor and come in various colours. Mandarins and kumquats are the most common fruits seen in plant-like form and are usually placed at the front of homes. They represent abundance, prosperity, wealth, and unity.
Clean Your House
It’s time to declutter! Chinese New Year is the time to clean out your space as a sign of new beginnings, dusting away dirt and debris and making room for a breath of fresh air. Cleaning house is a traditional CNY custom that symbolizes getting rid of bad luck from the previous year that may hinder fresh, new energy. Do note that cleaning must be done before the eve of the holiday because doing so during the holiday may sweep out incoming good luck!
Put Up Festive Decorations
Seeing red? Red is a lucky and auspicious colour for Chinese New Year. Red represents good luck, passion and prosperity. Chinese legend also explains how red decoration scared away a demon from massacring a village, so the colour is also symbolic of warding off evil and negative energy. Thus, people hang up red adornments like spring couplets, aka fai chun (揮春), which are characters for good luck and prosperity traditionally hand-painted on a square or rectangle paper and hung on the door, and lanterns at the entrance of their homes to ward off bad energy and welcome the good.
Chinese New Year couplets are hung at the entrance of homes. These couplets showcase beautifully written Chinese calligraphy that express sincere wishes of blessing. And to no one’s surprise, they are written against a red background. Similarly, door god banners act as a protective guardian for the home. The banners normally come in pairs, always facing each other, to ward off evil.
Spend Time With Families (And Feast!)
No Chinese holiday is without a family gathering and heaps of food to feast on together! The most important gathering happens on the eve of the lunar new year, which falls on January 28 this year. At least two generations unite and create a warm, upbeat atmosphere that sets the tone for a new year full of new beginnings. Connecting with loved ones is a reminder of the constant support we have that grounds us as we grow.
Give Red Envelopes
A very important Lunar New Year tradition is red envelopes, commonly known as lai see, which are filled with money and gifted to people. Typically, married couples gift lai see packets to children and unmarried ones. The amount of money ranges from a few dollars to significantly bigger amounts depending on your relationship with the person. Upon exchange, both parties wish blessings for each other (e.g. good health and wealth). It’s also common for employers to gift red packets to staff as a token of gratitude for their work.
Exchange Gifts With Loved Ones
Chinese New Year is a time for people to visit the homes of relatives and friends, but it’s never done empty-handed. Besides red packets, food is probably the number one most common gift. Culinary gifts range from glutinous rice cakes (nian gao 年糕) made of glutinous rice flour representing a higher position in life and fruit baskets representing fulfilment and wealth, to sweet festive treats like candied fruits representing an easy and fruitful year filled with abundance ahead.
Watch Dragon & Lion Dances
There’s no better way to kick-start the festivities than with the loud and boisterous dragon and lion dances. The dances punctuated with clanging from drums and cymbals parade the streets, malls, and even offices. They’re performed to bring good luck and prosperity. The costume is often worn by four or more dancers gliding and moving the creature’s head vigorously to affect a realistic lion or dragon. The more dancers, the longer the creature’s body and the more luck it represents. Have a brush with the mighty beast!
Watch Fireworks Show
In Hong Kong, the Chinese New Year fireworks are scheduled for the second day of CNY. This year, on January 30, the fireworks will begin at 8:00 pm over Victoria Harbour, lasting around 20-30 minutes. The show typically features the zodiac animal as its theme, and this year, we welcome the Year of the Snake. If you plan to watch the display, check out our guide for the best free spots along Victoria Harbour to enjoy the fireworks.
Pray To Deities At Temples
At the beginning of Chinese New Year, people visit temples to seek blessings and pay respect to their chosen deities. One of the most popular temples in Hong Kong is Wong Tai Sin Temple. There, worshippers express gratitude and pray for blessings such as career advancements, good health, finding true love, and earning more money. As a common practice, kau chim (求籤) is where people kneel and shake a cup of numbered fortune sticks. The sticks that fall out of the cylinder reveals guidance and insights into what the year ahead may hold.
Set Off Firecrackers
Legend has it that the noise from fireworks and firecrackers scared off a mythical beast in a tale about endangered villagers. Therefore, the louder the noise, the better! Although firecrackers are usually not allowed in Hong Kong, Chinese New Year is an exception, and locals often set them off in villages. The debris from the firecrackers is typically left on the ground, as sweeping it away is believed to remove any good luck brought by the display.
Hang Up Lanterns
A festival within a festival? Why not! On the final day of the 15-day Chinese New Year celebration (February 12, 2025), Hong Kong lights up for the Chinese Lantern Festival. Lanterns often take the shape of animals, including the zodiac sign of the year. Also known as Chinese Valentine’s Day, it was historically the only day in ancient times when singles could go out and seek love. Today, people celebrate by heading out to enjoy the festivities and guess lantern riddles.
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