Five of the best places to ring in the Year of the Rooster in East Asia
Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam - where they call the holiday Tet - make for great alternatives to celebrating Lunar New Year in Hong Kong
January 28 ushers in the Year of the Rooster, and with it a fortnight filled with raucous celebrations tinged in the colour red. While Hongkongers eat their fill of egg waffles and honeyed crackers at the Lunar New Year Fair at Victoria Park and burn incense by the thousands at Wong Tai Sin temple as the clock strikes midnight on Lunar New Year’s Day, migrant workers across China will be spending a precious 15 days at home feasting and lighting firecrackers with loved ones.
Beyond China, the Lunar New Year is celebrated with fervour in Southeast Asia; if you fancy a change of scenery this year, hop on a short-haul flight to one of these destinations.
With 75 per cent of its population being ethnic Chinese, it’s no wonder Singapore throws its biggest parties during the Lunar New Year. The Year of the Rooster is no exception – celebrations began in earnest in early January, when the Chinatown Chinese New Year Light-Up transformed Eu Tong Sen Street, New Bridge Road and South Bridge Road with some 5,500 handcrafted lanterns (ends February 25). Nightly performances of Chinese opera, martial arts and lion dances began earlier in the month at Kreta Ayer Square, and continue daily from 8pm until January 27.
Count down to the new year itself on January 27 from 2pm at River Hongbao, Marina Bay, decorated with dazzling large-scale lanterns and featuring Chinese arts and crafts, street food and amusement rides (daily until February 4), or join in the Chinatown street party, with abundant food and fireworks, from 9.30pm.
