Chinese New Year Celebrations with Lanterns in Singapore by Dileep Kaluaratchie, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Chinese New Year
Fifteen days that reshape travel across the region — which new year you are attending, what closes, and where to be for it.
A lunar new year observed across much of East and South-East Asia, and a fortnight in which a great deal of the region stops.
The Essentials
The date is set by the lunar calendar and falls between late January and the middle of February. Celebrations run for around fifteen days from the new year itself, and although the first days are the most visible the whole period shapes travel across the region.
It is not only a Chinese festival, and that matters when choosing where to go. Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam — where the new year is Tết and the customs differ — and the Chinese communities of Thailand and Indonesia all mark it, each with its own food, temple practice and street celebration. Bangkok's Yaowarat and the temple processions of West Kalimantan are quite different experiences from a Beijing or Hong Kong new year.
The practical consequence for any traveller is closure and movement. This is the largest annual travel period in the region: transport books out, many family-run businesses close for days, and prices rise. Planning around it is as important as planning for it.
Where to experience Chinese New Year
The places this happens, and what each one is actually like.
Yaowarat, the city's Chinatown, closes to traffic and fills for the new year — one of the most accessible celebrations for a traveller already in South-East Asia.
A public, well-organised version with river and street events, and the easiest of the region's celebrations to attend without local knowledge.
The Cap Go Meh processions that close the fifteen days are among the most distinctive in the region, and quite unlike a city celebration.
Temple visits, flower markets and a night parade, in a city that stays navigable through the period.
Temple visits through the first days, then the Pingxi sky lanterns that close the fifteen — the most photographed ending to the period, and reachable as a short trip from the city.
A public holiday with temple open houses and Chap Goh Meh at the end, in a country where the food traditions of the period are unusually well preserved and easy for a visitor to eat their way through.
How to plan your Chinese New Year trip
This is the region's busiest travel fortnight. Domestic transport, intercity trains and flights fill weeks ahead as people travel home, and that pressure reaches visitors too. Book internal legs before you book anything discretionary.
Expect things to be closed. Family-run restaurants and small businesses often shut for several days around the new year itself. Cities absorb this better than towns, which is worth weighing when choosing a base.
Read the local version before you arrive. The customs, the food and even the name differ by country. Knowing which new year you are attending changes what you look for and how you behave as a guest.
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