What is ‘Little New Year’ or the Kitchen God Festival, celebrated in China and Vietnam?
A key part of the Chinese “xiao nian” festival a week before Lunar New Year concerns the Kitchen God, who is also celebrated in Vietnam
In 2025, Lunar New Year’s day falls on 29 January, inaugurating the Year of the Snake. But did you know that the week prior to it is known as xiao nian, or “little new year”, during which traditional tasks to prepare for the new year are performed?
In 2025, xiao nian begins in northern China on the 23rd day of the lunar month, January 22, and in southern China a day later.
Xiao nian is sometimes also known colloquially as the Kitchen God Festival, since a major part of the celebrations is to prepare the home and hearth to bid that deity a temporary farewell.
In Chinese lore the Kitchen God is sent to watch over families by the Jade Emperor – the all-powerful deity who is thought to decide how fortunate households will be in the new year – and upon his return, he reports on all he has observed.
His likeness is usually seen in the form of paper images that are pasted next to or near the stove, where he oversees and protects the household.
