Chinese New Year 2027: the date, and how China celebrates now

When is Chinese New Year 2027?

Chinese New Year 2027 is Saturday 6 February 2027, the first day of the first lunar month and the start of the Year of the Goat. New Year’s Eve (除夕), the most important night, is Friday 5 February. The festival season ends with the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day, Saturday 20 February.

Since 2025, mainland China gives four statutory days off for Spring Festival: New Year’s Eve and the first three days of the new year. The State Council stretches this to a longer break by swapping weekend working days; in 2026 the holiday ran nine days, from 15 to 23 February. The 2027 schedule had not been published when we checked; last year’s came out on 4 November.

Hong Kong’s statutory holidays for 2027 are 6, 8 and 9 February. Singapore’s are 6 and 7 February, with Monday 8 February off in lieu.[1][9][10][11][12]

Chinese New Year traditions: what families do

Before New Year. Families clean the house from top to bottom (掸尘, “sweeping away the dust”); the cleaning has to be finished before New Year’s Day. Doors get red spring couplets (春联) and the character 福 (fú, fortune), often pasted upside down, because “upside down” (倒, dào) sounds like “arrived” (到, dào). Windows get red paper-cuts.

New Year’s Eve. The reunion dinner (年夜饭) is the most important family meal of the year. Many families then watch the CCTV Spring Festival Gala and stay up late to see the new year in (守岁, shǒusuì).

The first days. On day one, many avoid sweeping, which could sweep away the new luck, and skip haircuts and hair washing. Elders give children money in red envelopes. On day two, married daughters traditionally visit their parents with their husbands. Day five is the birthday of the God of Wealth and “breaking the fifth” (破五), when many businesses reopen. Temple fairs (庙会) with snacks, crafts and lion and dragon dances run through the holiday: Beijing held more than 40 temple fairs and lantern shows in 2026.

Lantern Festival. The fifteenth day closes the season with lanterns, lantern riddles, dragon and lion dances and sweet rice balls (汤圆).[14][15][16][30][17][31]

Chinese New Year food

What families eat depends on the region. In the north the reunion dinner means dumplings (饺子), sometimes shaped like gold ingots and with a coin hidden in one; in the south, sweet rice balls (汤圆) are common. Fish is served because 鱼 (yú) sounds like “surplus” (余), and part of it is often left uneaten, for a surplus every year (年年有余). Nian gao (年糕), sticky rice cake, stands for rising fortunes.[14][15]

Red envelopes (hongbao)

Red envelopes (红包, hóngbāo) of lucky money are the classic gift. Money given to children by elders is called 压岁钱 (yāsuìqián); the story goes that it once warded off a monster called Sui. Today much of it moves by phone: WeChat users sent red envelopes with custom covers more than 600 million times over the 2026 festival, and banks promoted digital-yuan red envelopes.[14][18][8]

The Spring Festival Gala (Chunwan)

The CCTV Spring Festival Gala (春晚, Chūnwǎn) is a variety show on New Year’s Eve, and still the most-watched programme of the year: in 2026 it took 79.29% of China’s live TV audience and an average of 325 million viewers a minute, with broadcasts in 85 languages.

Robots have become a fixture. In 2025 more than a dozen Unitree humanoid robots danced the yangge folk dance, spinning red handkerchiefs; in 2026 Unitree robots performed kung fu, and several other robot makers appeared in sketches.[6][19][20]

Are fireworks allowed at Chinese New Year?

It depends on the city. Beijing bans them inside the Fifth Ring Road; Shanghai banned all fireworks inside its Outer Ring Road over the 2026 holiday. The trend is now towards easing: Shanxi province lifted its province-wide ban in December 2025, and parts of Henan, Anshan and Foshan allowed fireworks at set times and places in early 2025.[23][22][21]

Travelling in China at Chinese New Year

Spring Festival brings the world’s biggest travel rush, 春运 (chūnyùn). In 2026 it ran 40 days and the railways carried a record 13.45 million passengers a day on average. Train tickets go on sale on 12306 15 days ahead and the popular days sell out fast, so book the moment sales open.

More foreign visitors now come for the festival: 1.313 million foreign nationals crossed China’s borders over the 2026 holiday, up 21.8% a day, including 460,000 visa-free entries. Temple fairs and lantern festivals are the highlights.[2][24][7][17]

Is Lunar New Year the same as Chinese New Year?

Mostly, yes. Chinese New Year is the Chinese name for the Lunar New Year, and several countries celebrate the new year of the same lunisolar calendar. Vietnam’s Tết usually falls on the same day, with lucky money and a zodiac that has a cat and a buffalo where China has a rabbit and an ox. Korea’s Seollal is a three-day holiday with ancestral rites and bows to elders. The Hmong New Year is different: it is held in the autumn, after the harvest.

In 2024 UNESCO added the Spring Festival, “the social practices of the Chinese people in celebration of traditional new year”, to its list of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity.[25][26][27][13]