A festival honoring a rat may not sound like your idea of a good time, but China manages to do it beautifully. From January 21 to February 20th, the entire country celebrates the Chinese New Year. It’s the Year of the Rat—the next zodiac animal on the lunar calendar.
Chinese New Year is the biggest festival in China, and you can find activities and celebrations in almost every city in the country. Streets are decorated with red lanterns, firecrackers are lit in the street, and traditional New Year’s dishes are prepared and eaten.
You can expect the first few days of the New Year to be quiet, as many locals return home to spend time with family. However, the following few weeks will transform the city into a festive celebration full of parades, lion dancing, and fireworks.
Chinese New Year is also filled with superstitious traditions. For example, it’s a bad omen to injure yourself or cry during this time period. However, it’s good luck to eat Chinese dumplings and rice cakes, and to light firecrackers to scare away evil spirits.
If you’re visiting for the Chinese New Year, you might as well stick around for awhile. Read our 2-week China itinerary for more.
