Frequently asked questions: who celebrates the lunar new year? China, Vietnam, both Koreas, Mongolia, and diasporas in Southeast Asia and around the world
- Lunar New Year celebrations are central to Chinese – including Tibetan – culture, and for Koreans, Vietnamese and Mongolians and all their diasporas
- While there are subtle differences in the way each culture marks the start of their lunisolar calendar, the festivities share some common threads
Who celebrates the lunar new year? Let’s set the record straight: while commonly associated with Chinese communities, Lunar New Year festivities are not exclusively Chinese.
The lunar new year is a momentous occasion celebrated by diverse ethnic groups, each of which marks it in subtly different ways, and for each of which the event’s cultural significance differs.
Cultures across Asia – Tibetan, Vietnamese, Korean, and Mongolian – have Lunar New Year festivities. So, too, do diasporic Asian communities around the world.
While there are many specific small differences among the celebrations of different communities, in general terms they are very similar, says the Asia Society.
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Curious about the differences in Lunar New Year celebrations across cultures? Read on.
