customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

knowledgeQuestion

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

Audrey Chan

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.


Curious about the differences in Lunar New Year celebrations across cultures? Read on.
Primarily celebrated in countries touched by Confucian culture, the Lunar New Year marks the beginning of the lunisolar calendar. It typically falls between late January and mid-February in the Gregorian calendar.


In China – including Taiwan, Macau and Hong Kong – the Lunar New Year festival is referred to as Chinese New Year or Spring Festival. Firecrackers are set off and people wear new and typically red clothes to welcome the new year.
Elders pass out red packets containing money, called hong bao in Mandarin and lai see in Cantonese.
Visits to relatives and friends are common, and traditional Lunar New Year foods such as niangao (“year cakes” made with glutinous rice flour) and tangyuan (“soup balls”) sweet dumplings in soup are enjoyed. Lion dances are performed in the streets, too.


On the other hand, celebrations of the Vietnamese New Year, commonly referred to as Tet Nguyen Dan or Tet, extend over three days to mark the start of the traditional Vietnamese calendar.
Differing slightly from the Chinese lunisolar calendar, the Vietnamese version uses animal signs such as the buffalo, cat, and goat instead of the Chinese representations of the ox, rabbit, and goat, a recent fact sheet by the United States Congressional Research Service notes.
During the festivities, families gather, pay homage to ancestors, exchange wishes for prosperity, and indulge in traditional foods like banh chung (sticky rice cakes) and mut tet (candied fruits).

Koreans’ version of Lunar New Year is called Seollal, and lasts three days in accordance with the Chinese lunisolar calendar.
It involves wearing new clothes on the morning of the new year, especially hanbok – traditional Korean dress.
Cleaning, kite-flying, the performing of ancestral rites, and the eating of traditional foods such as tteokguk (rice cake soup) and mandu (dumplings) are also markers of the Korean new year.

Meanwhile, Tibetans inside and outside China commemorate Losar – the first day of the first month of the Tibetan lunar calendar.
The festivities involve monastic rituals, dances, and time spent with family. Prayer flags are hoisted on the hills and around the houses during this time and the holy altars in every Tibetan household are abundantly adorned with offerings.
Mongolians observe Tsagaan Sar, a festival characterised by traditional food, cultural performances, and the sharing of well-wishes.
As in other cultures, it is celebrated over three days, and friends and relatives visit each other’s homes to exchange blessings for the new year, small gifts, and lots of food, such as buuz (dumplings).


Malaysian Chinese celebrate Tahun Baru Cina, whereas Chinese Singaporeans mark their Chinese New Year with lion dances and family reunions.
In 2012, Lunar New Year was announced as a public holiday in the Philippines. Tikoy (sticky rice cake) exchange endures as part of the festivities, as does the distribution of red envelopes to children, which are called ang pao.
For Thai Chinese, honouring ancestors is a key Lunar New Year tradition. It involves the offering of fruit, taro, sweets, and more on altars, then the burning of incense. Afterwards, it’s time for family reunions over an elaborate meal.


Thai Chinese embark on temple pilgrimages, seeking favourable weather and blessings for the upcoming year through their new year prayers.
So, while these Asian cultures all mark the lunar new year in slightly different ways, the shared threads of tradition, celebrating family bonds, and seeking blessings for the year ahead tie them all together.


Where did English get the words ‘sampan’ and ‘junk’ from? Probably Cantonese and Javanese

Why Chinese science fiction is having more than a moment – beyond Netflix’s 3 Body Problem

Sheng vs didgeridoo? The night 2 of the world’s oldest wind instruments went head to head in Hong Kong

China celebrates 2,575 years since Confucius’ birth with cultural festival in Shandong

Chinese culture

Frequently asked questions: who celebrates the lunar new year? China, Vietnam, both Koreas, Mongolia, and diasporas in Southeast Asia and around the world

A street vendor pushes her bicycle past a shop selling decorations in the old quarter of Hanoi ahead of the Lunar New Year, or Tet, holiday. The lunar new year is marked with festivities in cultures across Asia, and in their diasporas around the world. Photo: AFP

A child dressed in traditional red Chinese costume receives a lucky red envelope from his grandparents for Chinese New Year. China is far from being the only country in Asia where Lunar New Year festivities are held. Photo: Getty Images

Tibetan people hang prayer flags to pray for the Tibetan New Year on a mountain in Lhasa, capital of China’s Tibet autonomous region. Photo: Getty Images

Malaysian-Chinese children play with firecrackers inside a temple ahead of Lunar New Year in Pulau Ketam, Malaysia. Photo: Getty Images

Niangao (year cakes) made from glutinous rice flour and served with cups of tea at Chinese New Year. Photo: Getty Images

Tangyuan are eaten at Chinese New Year. Photo: Getty Images

A stallholder in a market in Vietnam sells red and golden decorations and gifts for Tet, the Vietnamese lunar new year. Photo: Getty Images

South Koreans wearing hanbok enjoy traditional folk games during lunar new year at the Gyeongbokgung royal palace in Seoul. The Lunar New Year holiday is the biggest of the year in South Korea. Photo: Getty Images

A Chinese Lunar New Year parade in Singapore on February 3, 2023. Photo: AFP

A street vendor prepares tikoy (sticky rice cakes) in Chinatown, Manila, ahead of Chinese New Year festivities. Photo: Getty Images

What Chinese animal am I? Characteristics of the Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, Pig, Rat, Ox, Tiger and Rabbit and when their years fall

Animals of the Chinese zodiac. Illustration: Shutterstock


Up next in the Chinese calendar is the Year of the Dragon. The dragon is one of 12 animal signs denoting the years in the Chinese calendrical cycle. The traits of each animal are believed to be reflected in the people born under their signs. Dragons are gifted, lucky, confident, intelligent and charismatic. Photo: Shutterstock

Bronze horse statues at a shrine in Taiwan. Those born in the year of the horse are said to be magnets for attention. Photo: Shutterstock

Sculptures of goats, part of a display of sculptures of the 12 Chinese zodiac animals at a scenic area in China. Photo: Shutterstock

A lantern in the shape of a rooster on display during Lunar New Year celebrations in Sydney, Australia, in February 2016 to herald the Year of the Rooster. Photo: Shutterstock

The rabbit is the luckiest Chinese zodiac animal of them all. Photo: Shutterstock

Year of the Dragon 2024: predictions, personalities and the wood element’s meaning for the next Lunar New Year

Craftsmen make dragon-shaped lanterns for a Lunar New Year lantern fair in Shenyang, China. Photo: Getty Images

A customer buys dragon-themed new-year decorations at Yiwu International Trade City in Jinhua, China, on December 11, 2023. Photo: Getty Images

The Beatles wave to a crowd at an airport as they arrive in the US for concerts and television appearances in 1964. Photo: Getty Images

Year of the Dragon 2024: it’s not just Chinese who revere the mythical beasts – 4 other cultures that celebrate them

The red dragon, national emblem of Wales. Photo: Getty Images 

Detail from the Yellow Dragon robe worn by emperors of China’s Qing dynasty. Such robes had multiple dragon motifs, each with their own meaning. Cultures other than that of China also celebrate the mythical dragon. Photo: Getty Images

A Welsh flag flies in Snowdonia. Photo: Getty Images 

Vikings, who marauded across Europe from Scandinavia, carved dragon heads on the prows of their long ships to instil fear. Image from Cassell’s Illustrated Universal History, Vol. III - The Middle Ages. Photo: Getty Images 

A triptych by 19th century artist Utagawa Kuniyoshi depicts the mythical Princess Tamatori-hime recovering a sacred jewel from the palace of the dragon king who stole it. Photo: Getty Images 

An embroidered dragon on a piece of Bhutanese cloth. Photo: Getty Images

Lifestyle

Arts & Culture

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


Sometimes thought of as an exclusively Chinese festival, Lunar New Year festivities take place in various other Asian cultures, too – Tibetan, Vietnamese, Korean and Mongolian, for example.


What you need to know about: Chinese culture

Lunar New Year

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

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