Chinese lanterns go up each Chinese New Year.
Chinese New Year, also called Lunar New Year or Spring Festival, is an exciting time to be in Beijing. There are plenty of festivities to partake in locally, but many also take advantage of the week-long holiday to travel for leisure, while others will head back to their hometowns to celebrate with family.
Chinese New Year gives visitors a chance to experience some of Beijing’s most deeply rooted traditions. This is the time for extended family to spend time with one another, visiting one another while bearing gifts and well wishes.
As is the case throughout China, fireworks are one of the most popular (and noticeable) Chinese New Year traditions. Families and businesses prepare red firecrackers and firework packages to set off on New Year’s Eve, and again during auspicious times through out the 15-day official New Year period. Watch the show from your hotel window or brave a walk through the street. Be sure to greet fellow celebrants with a cheery ‘gongxi’!
Beijing’s temple fairs are a New Year’s experience unique to the capital city. Many of Beijing’s temples open their doors to the public and play host to all sorts of performers. You’ll see everything from Beijing opera singers to Chinese acrobats at these festive social gatherings. The fairs held at Ditan and Dongyue Temples are generally the most traditional, while the festivities at Zhongguancun and the Olympic Sports Center add a modern twist to the old traditions. You can also head to Summer Palace to experience an imperial celebration, and Chaoyang Park also hosts a popular carnival.
Chinese New Year is all about ushering in luck, abundance of wealth and good health; popular pedestrian streets like Wangfujing will be decked out in red, with shops blaring the Chinese New Year’s versions of Christmas carols to welcome in shoppers for special holiday promotions. To feel the full effect of the festivities, don’t forget to feast on holiday favorites like niangao ricecakes, hearty hotpot and sweet glutinous rice balls. Make sure to double-check business hours as many shops and restaurants are closed on the first few days of the New Year.
Read more about things to do in Beijing in winter.
