Moveable feasts: Asia offers many ways – and dates – to celebrate the New Year

Hundreds of millions of people in China and other parts of Asia are on the move this week to celebrate New Year’s with family gatherings, feasts and traditional activities honoring ancestors and hoping to bring good fortune.

Colloquially known as “Chinese New Year,” the Lunar New Year falls on Jan. 29 this year, but it can come as early as Jan. 21 or as late as Feb. 20. In 2026, the holiday falls on Feb. 17.

The variation is the result of using a lunar calendar based on the phases of the moon, modified into a lunisolar calendar that addresses leap years to keep it roughly in line with the solar year of the Western, or Gregorian, calendar.

Most East Asian nations adopted the Gregorian calendar in the late 19th or early 20th centuries, and the lunisolar calendar is used for cultural events, religious ceremonies, and for some people, birthdays.

Lunar New Year traditions vary greatly among countries or territories covered by Radio Free Asia and its affiliate, BenarNews.

Most of China’s 1.4 billion people as well as Chinese communities around the world observe the Lunar New Year, known as Chunjie, or Spring Festival.

In China, the holiday brings a two-week vacation and a large mass migration of people back to their hometowns, where extended families reunite for feasts of special dishes believed to bring good luck.

Red envelopes and fireworks

Honoring ancestors is a key part of the festivities, but many of the rituals are forward-looking, symbolizing new beginnings and the hope of good fortune and health in the new year.

Children and youth are given red envelopes full of cash, and families clean their houses and try to pay off their debts to clean the slate. Masses of fireworks are set off to scare away demons that may haunt the new year.

When China was poor, the Spring Festival meant a rare opportunity to eat meat and other quality foods and wear new clothes. Now, many younger Chinese use the break to fly off to Japan to ski or to tour Southeast Asian countries.

The reason “Chinese New Year” is a misnomer is that the holiday is also observed on the same date in South Korea and Vietnam – two neighbors of China that were heavily influenced by Chinese culture centuries ago. Like China, they will ring in the Year of the Snake on Wednesday.

In South Korea, the holiday is called Seollal and features a return to hometowns, the wearing of traditional hanbok attire, playing folk games, performing rites and offering food to deceased relatives to honor the family lineage.

Young people bow deeply before their elders and receive gifts and money, and rice cake soup is a main treat for the holiday, which is a three-day affair.

Kim Dynasty and Tet

North Korea, separated from the South in the wake of World War II in a division cemented by the 1950-53 Korean War, returned to the practice of celebrating the Lunar New Year in 1989 and made it an official holiday in 2003.

But the most important holidays in North Korea focus on the birthdates of founder Kim Il Sung and his son Kim Jong Il, the father of current leader Kim Jong Un. Even Lunar New Year is observed mainly by visits to the statues of the two elder Kims.

Vietnam, which moved from the lunar calendar to the Gregorian one when it was a colony of France in the late 19th century, calls the holiday Tết Nguyên Đán, or Tết for short. As in China, the Vietnamese will clean their homes and pay off debts, cook special dishes and make offerings to ancestors.

While Vietnam will ring in the Year of the Snake this year, they don’t follow all 12 signs of the Chinese zodiac. When China observes the Year of the Rabbit, Vietnam honors the cat, while the Chinese Year of the Ox is instead the Year of the Buffalo.

Special dumplings and Buddhist chants

Tibet, which was annexed by China in 1950, calls its new year Losar, which falls in February or March, and very occasionally coincides with China’s Lunar New Year. This year, Losar, one of the most important festivals, falls on Feb. 28 and runs for 15 days.

A highly religious holiday, Losar features a special noodle dish called Guthuk, containing dumplings made of different ingredients such as salt or rice that are seen as good omens.

The ceremony Monlam (“Wish Path”) held at major monasteries of the Gelug sect of Tibetan Buddhism entails monks chanting and praying to bring peace and good fortune to their Himalayan region.

The Uyghurs of the Xinjiang region, annexed by China in 1949-50, celebrate Nowruz, the Persian New Year. It falls on or near the Spring Equinox and will be observed on March 20 this year.

The holiday is observed by various ethnic groups in countries along the Silk Road, including Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, India, Iran, Iraq, central Asian states and Turkey.

For the Uyghurs, facing repression under Chinese rule and heavy-handed assimilation policies, there is a strong emphasis on preserving cultural identity through gatherings, feasts of special food, music and dance.

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Splashing water, Buddhist rites

In Southeast Asia, while Vietnam follows the Chinese-inspired calendar and traditions, the traditionally Buddhist nations of Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar mark the solar new year in mid-April, when the sun enters the sign of Aries the Ram.

Many rites and practices are similar to those of Thailand, with water festivals aimed at cleansing and renewal, as well as traditional food, games, music and dancing. The festival comes in the hottest month of the year, just after the harvest and before the rainy season.

In Cambodia, the Khmer New Year – known variously as Chaul Chnam Thmey, Moha Sangkran or Sangkran – runs from April 14 to 16 this year. It is a time of family reunions, religious ceremonies and giving alms to the poor.

In next-door Laos, the New Year is known as Pi Mai or Boun Pimay, and this will run from April 13 to 16. During the festivities, people splash water on each other to bring good luck and peace throughout the coming year.

The people of Myanmar celebrate the Burmese New Year, called Thingyan, or Water Festival, by throwing buckets of water on each other and on Buddha images as an act of prayer to wash away misfortunes to welcome the new year. It falls on April 13 to 16 this year.

Radio Free Asia is an online news service affiliated with BenarNews.