The Lunar New Year is one of the most important events celebrated by Chinese people worldwide. Here's what the year of the Metal Rat symbolizes — and how the usual festivities are now disrupted by the deadly coronavirus.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/A. Bradshaw
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Customs and traditions of Chinese New Year
In 2023, Chinese New Year falls on January 22, starting a year of the Rabbit. Get to know some of the traditional customs of Chinese New Year.
Image: China Foto Press/IMAGO
Lion dance
The traditional lion dance is based on the myth of a monster called Nian. According to the legend, it attacked a village every year on New Year's eve. The villagers decided to make a puppet lion to scare off the beast. A dancer supports the head while the other moves the tail of the lion. Accompanied by drums, symbols and gongs, the lions battle each other. The dance brings good luck and fortune.
Image: China Foto Press/IMAGO
Yusheng salad tossing ritual
Yusheng is a radish salad with raw salmon. Yusheng means "raw fish" but the term is a homophone for "rise in abundance." While shouting celebratory phrases, the salad is tossed collectively using chopsticks. According to the belief, the higher it is tossed, the more abundance one will have. The ritual is practiced in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia.
Image: DW/M. Chua
Meat as a sign of prosperity
Meat consumption has been associated with the increasing wealth of the growing middle class. In China, people consumed an average of 22.7 kilograms of pork meat per person in 2020. Pork is an important ingredient in many Chinese New Year dishes, including dumplings — a symbol of wealth. The meat can also be roasted and braised to make other special Chinese New Year delicacies.
Image: Megan Chua
Chinese sticky rice cake: Nian gao
"Gao" in Chinese is a homophone for "cake," but also "high." "Nian gao" translates to "year high" and the Chinese believe that eating this sticky rice cake during Chinese New Year will increase their income, lead to a promotion at work or contribute to the financial growth of children. "Nian gao" brings the promise of a bright future. The desert has equivalents in Japan (mochi) and Korea (tteok).
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M.-F. Alquinto
Golden fruit
The mandarin orange is a symbol for gold and money. Mandarines are presented as gifts during home visits as a sign of respect, courtesy and returning good favors. Since the Chinese believe that good things come in pairs, people give each other an even number of the oranges. They are also used as decoration.
Image: picture-alliance/robertharding/L. Tettoni
Red envelopes
Arguably the best part of Chinese New Year for all youths: receiving red envelopes of cash. Also known as "hong bao," or red packet, these envelopes contain anywhere between $3-15 each. Married people are obliged to give red packets and only un-married people are allowed to receive them. The closer one is to the giver, the more money they will receive. It pays off to have many married relatives!
A symbol of happiness and luck for the Chinese, the loud raucous of fireworks and firecrackers was traditionally meant to scare off Monster Nian and contributed to the festive atmosphere. However, due to the risks of injuries and death, fireworks have been banned in China during Spring Festival. According to statistics from 2018, they were banned in 444 cities, and restricted in many more.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/
Celebrated around the world
The Chinese diaspora, counting their descendants, is estimated at about 60 million, according to the International Organization for Migration. Chinese New Year is a four-day public holiday in some countries like Singapore, where the Chinese make up 75% of the local population. Singapore celebrates Chinese New Year with festival lights and games against the backdrop of the Marina Bay skyline.
Image: DW/M. Chua
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The coronavirus outbreak is plunging China into chaos, just as the Chinese were set to celebrate their biggest and most important festival of the year, the Lunar New Year.
Travel bans have been imposed on different cities, even though hundreds of millions of people were planning to go back to their families this weekend. According to press agency AFP, more than 40 million people were confined to their city on Friday. Many public holiday celebrations have been cancelled.
The impact is also being felt in the cultural sector. Even though the Chinese New Year is usually the country's most popular moviegoing period of the year, this year, major studios have decided to postpone their releases; China's 70,000 movie theaters will remain closed, as reported by the Hollywood Reporter. Major tourist attractions such as the Forbidden City in Beijing and the Shanghai Disney Resort are also closing their doors.
Disneyland's Mickey and Minnie were all set to celebrate the Year of the Rat with special costumes and performances, but now the world-famous mice will remain isolated, just like a large part of China's population affected by the exceptional quarantine.
Nevertheless, Chinese New Year heralds the beginning of spring and a new lunisolar cycle. Although the Gregorian calendar is used for civic purposes, the Chinese lunisolar calendar determines festivals.
The Chinese calendar was conceived nearly 4,000 years ago. Based on a lunisolar calculation, the version used today was perfected around 500 BC. While the Gregorian calendar is set for the year 2020, according to the Chinese lunar calendar, the year 4718 will start on January 25.
The calculation of a Chinese calendar is long and complex, based on the dates of the new moons and the dates when the sun's longitude is in multiples of 30 degrees.
The naming of the Chinese calendar, however, follows another system. Unlike the Gregorian calendar where each month has a name that repeats every 12 months, the months in a Chinese calendar are numbered.
After the Earth Pig, the Metal Rat
Only the years are named. Each year refers to one of five elements — water, earth, fire, metal and wood — and one of the 12 Chinese zodiac animals, a cycle repeated every 60 years.
Since the five elements and the animals each have their own significance, the name of the year comes with symbolic attributes that are believed to define the year to come.
Following the Year of the Earth Pig in 2019, the year of the Metal Rat, which officially begins on January 25, 2020, is seen as a year of ambition. People with the zodiac sign Rat are said to be hardworking, resourceful and clever.
Children welcome the Year of the Rat with artworksImage: picture-alliance/Zumapress/Xu Hui
International celebration
Approximately 1.3 billion people celebrate this holiday in China. Abroad, the Chinese diaspora — about 46 million people concentrated predominantly in Southeast Asia, South Asia, America, the UK and South Africa — underline this festival as well.
Spring festival also has its equivalent in various other Asian countries: Tet in Vietnam, Seollal in South Korea, Tsagaan Sar in Mongolia and Losar in Tibet.
World's largest travel period: 'Chunyun'
"Chunyun" translates to "spring transit." For the year 2019 alone, about 3 billion trips were undertaken by Chinese citizens back to their hometowns within China, which is why this year's travel ban is so dramatic.
Travel patterns are typically related to income levels, with the more affluent groups choosing to travel out of China. According to C.Trip, China's biggest online travel agency, only 5% of Chinese citizens own a passport, but about 7 million travelers went abroad during Spring Festival 2019, most of them going to Thailand, Japan and Indonesia.
Chinese nationals living abroad with family in China often travel back home. Most of the Chinese diaspora, however, pay homage to their Chinese heritage by celebrating in the places where their families have settled.
In city centers within China, businesses close for up to a week for the Chunyun period.
A crowded railway station during the Chunyun or 'Spring transit' in 2019Image: Reuters/China Stringer Network
Traditions and customs
Chinese New Year's eve is considered the most important day of the 15-day traditional festival. Families and relatives usher in the new year with celebrations going on late into the night. They gather for a traditional Chinese dinner and remind themselves of what's important in life: community, tradition and food.
While regional differences mainly apply to food, certain customs remain consistent around the world. For example, the color red is the most important color for the festival and most homes will be adorned with red decorations.
The picture gallery below looks into more rituals of Chinese New Year, which will, unfortunately, be disrupted for many people this year by the deadly coronavirus crisis.
Customs and traditions of Chinese New Year
In 2023, Chinese New Year falls on January 22, starting a year of the Rabbit. Get to know some of the traditional customs of Chinese New Year.
Image: China Foto Press/IMAGO
Lion dance
The traditional lion dance is based on the myth of a monster called Nian. According to the legend, it attacked a village every year on New Year's eve. The villagers decided to make a puppet lion to scare off the beast. A dancer supports the head while the other moves the tail of the lion. Accompanied by drums, symbols and gongs, the lions battle each other. The dance brings good luck and fortune.
Image: China Foto Press/IMAGO
Yusheng salad tossing ritual
Yusheng is a radish salad with raw salmon. Yusheng means "raw fish" but the term is a homophone for "rise in abundance." While shouting celebratory phrases, the salad is tossed collectively using chopsticks. According to the belief, the higher it is tossed, the more abundance one will have. The ritual is practiced in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia.
Image: DW/M. Chua
Meat as a sign of prosperity
Meat consumption has been associated with the increasing wealth of the growing middle class. In China, people consumed an average of 22.7 kilograms of pork meat per person in 2020. Pork is an important ingredient in many Chinese New Year dishes, including dumplings — a symbol of wealth. The meat can also be roasted and braised to make other special Chinese New Year delicacies.
Image: Megan Chua
Chinese sticky rice cake: Nian gao
"Gao" in Chinese is a homophone for "cake," but also "high." "Nian gao" translates to "year high" and the Chinese believe that eating this sticky rice cake during Chinese New Year will increase their income, lead to a promotion at work or contribute to the financial growth of children. "Nian gao" brings the promise of a bright future. The desert has equivalents in Japan (mochi) and Korea (tteok).
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M.-F. Alquinto
Golden fruit
The mandarin orange is a symbol for gold and money. Mandarines are presented as gifts during home visits as a sign of respect, courtesy and returning good favors. Since the Chinese believe that good things come in pairs, people give each other an even number of the oranges. They are also used as decoration.
Image: picture-alliance/robertharding/L. Tettoni
Red envelopes
Arguably the best part of Chinese New Year for all youths: receiving red envelopes of cash. Also known as "hong bao," or red packet, these envelopes contain anywhere between $3-15 each. Married people are obliged to give red packets and only un-married people are allowed to receive them. The closer one is to the giver, the more money they will receive. It pays off to have many married relatives!
A symbol of happiness and luck for the Chinese, the loud raucous of fireworks and firecrackers was traditionally meant to scare off Monster Nian and contributed to the festive atmosphere. However, due to the risks of injuries and death, fireworks have been banned in China during Spring Festival. According to statistics from 2018, they were banned in 444 cities, and restricted in many more.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/
Celebrated around the world
The Chinese diaspora, counting their descendants, is estimated at about 60 million, according to the International Organization for Migration. Chinese New Year is a four-day public holiday in some countries like Singapore, where the Chinese make up 75% of the local population. Singapore celebrates Chinese New Year with festival lights and games against the backdrop of the Marina Bay skyline.
