Chinese New Year — Chūnjié (春節), the Spring Festival — is one of the most important festivals in the Chinese calendar. It marks the turn of the lunar year, the start of a new zodiac animal, and a period of family reunion, food, red decorations and small rituals meant to begin the year well.
Chinese New Year dates
The date moves because the Chinese calendar is lunisolar. It falls on the second new moon after the winter solstice, or the third in some years, which keeps it between January 21 and February 20. The table gives the first day of the lunar year.
| Year | Chinese New Year | Animal |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | January 22 | Rabbit |
| 2024 | February 10 | Dragon |
| 2025 | January 29 | Snake |
| 2026 | February 17 | Horse |
| 2027 | February 6 | Goat |
| 2028 | January 26 | Monkey |
| 2029 | February 13 | Rooster |
| 2030 | February 3 | Dog |
| 2031 | January 23 | Pig |
| 2032 | February 11 | Rat |
| 2033 | January 31 | Ox |
| 2034 | February 19 | Tiger |
| 2035 | February 8 | Rabbit |
Dates use China Standard Time (UTC+8). For a full year-by-year table with stems and elements, see the Chinese zodiac years chart.
The Spring Festival timeline
The 15-day festival runs from Chinese New Year’s Day to the Lantern Festival; New Year’s Eve is the reunion-dinner night before it. The rhythm below is the common urban Chinese pattern; local and family customs vary, and many people now travel or work through part of the period.
Feb 5 · 2027
New Year’s Eve
Reunion dinner, the year’s last meal, couplets and red decorations.
Feb 6 · 2027
Day 1
The Year of the Goat begins. Greetings, red envelopes and visits to family.
Feb 7 · 2027
Day 2
Visits to parents and in-laws; the exact custom varies by region.
Feb 8 · 2027
Day 3
A quieter day in some traditions, often called “red dog day.”
Feb 9 · 2027
Day 4
A day of settling in; regional observances differ.
Feb 10 · 2027
Day 5
“Breaking the fifth” — dumplings and a welcome for the God of Wealth in northern traditions.
Feb 12 · 2027
Day 7
Renri, the “people’s birthday,” often marked with seven-vegetable soup.
Feb 14 · 2027
Day 9
The Jade Emperor’s birthday in traditions that honor him.
Feb 20 · 2027
Day 15
Lantern Festival: lanterns, riddles and yuanxiao or tangyuan.
Dates shown are for 2027. The same sequence shifts each year with the lunar calendar.
What people actually do
Chinese New Year is not a single ceremony. It is a cluster of customs, many of them regional, family-specific or religious. The common thread is renewal: clean the house before the new year, settle debts and arguments, gather the family, honor ancestors, and begin again with luck on your side.
Before the new year
- Clean the house. Sweep out the old year before New Year's Day. In many traditions, sweeping on the first day is avoided so good luck is not swept away.
- Put up red decorations. Couplets, paper cuttings, the character 福 (fú, fortune) — often hung upside down as a pun on “fortune arrives” — and red lanterns.
- Reunion dinner. The most important meal of the year, held on New Year's Eve. The menu varies: dumplings, fish, chicken, rice cake, hot pot, and dishes chosen for auspicious wordplay.
- New clothes and haircuts. Many people get a haircut before the new year; cutting hair during the first month is traditionally avoided in some regions because of a wordplay linking hair to prosperity.
During the festival
- Red envelopes. Hóngbāo are given to children, younger relatives and employees. The amount is often an even number, and four is commonly avoided because it sounds like “death.”
- Visiting and greetings. Families visit elders and in-laws; greetings often include wishes for health, prosperity and good fortune.
- Firecrackers and lion dances. Loud noise and the lion dance are traditionally associated with driving away bad luck and welcoming good fortune. Many cities restrict fireworks for safety and air quality.
- Taboos. Customs vary, but common ones include avoiding broken glass, lending money, using sharp objects or arguing on the first days. Treat these as family traditions rather than universal rules.
The Lantern Festival
The 15th day closes the festival. Lanterns are hung, riddles are written on them, and glutinous rice balls — yuanxiao in the north, tangyuan in the south — are eaten. The round shape suggests reunion and completeness.
Where the zodiac changes
The new animal begins on Chinese New Year's Day in the popular system. That means the last day of the old year still belongs to the old animal. In 2027, February 5 is the last day of the Horse year; February 6 is the first day of the Goat year. A baby born on February 5 is a Horse by this convention; a baby born on February 6 is a Goat.
Some Chinese astrology uses Li Chun, “Start of Spring,” around February 4, as the year boundary instead. That is why a person born in the first week of February can get different answers from different sources. The calculator uses Chinese New Year and states the cutoff.
Chinese New Year, Lunar New Year or Spring Festival?
All three names are used, and they are not identical. Chinese New Year is the common English name for the festival in Chinese communities. Spring Festival is the usual mainland Chinese name, reflecting the festival's place at the start of the agricultural year. Lunar New Year is broader: it includes Korean Seollal, Vietnamese Tết and other lunar new year traditions that share a calendar family but have distinct histories and customs.
Using “Lunar New Year” as an umbrella term is accurate. Using it to erase the Chinese-specific name is not. This guide uses Chinese New Year for the Chinese festival and notes the broader term where it helps.
Source note
Hong Kong Observatory, Gregorian–Lunar Calendar Conversion Table — the authority for the 2026 and 2027 dates and the Lantern Festival date.
Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art, Lunar New Year — public explanation of the festival and its regional traditions.
Customs vary by region, religion and family. The descriptions here are deliberately broad and should not be treated as rules for every household.
Common questions
When is Chinese New Year?
The date changes each year because it follows the Chinese lunisolar calendar. It falls between January 21 and February 20. In 2026 it was February 17; in 2027 it is February 6; in 2028 it is January 26. The table on this page lists 2023–2035.
When is Chinese New Year 2027?
Chinese New Year 2027 falls on Saturday, February 6, 2027. It begins the Year of the Goat (Ding Wei, yin fire). The Lantern Festival closes the celebrations on February 20, 2027.
When was Chinese New Year 2026?
Chinese New Year 2026 fell on Tuesday, February 17, 2026. It began the Year of the Horse (Bing Wu, yang fire). The Horse year runs until February 5, 2027.
How long is Chinese New Year?
The festival traditionally runs for 15 days, from Chinese New Year’s Day to the Lantern Festival. New Year’s Eve is the main reunion-dinner night before the first day. Public holidays are shorter and vary by country and region; in mainland China the official holiday is usually about a week.
Is Chinese New Year the same as Lunar New Year?
Chinese New Year is one Lunar New Year tradition. The term “Lunar New Year” also covers Korean Seollal, Vietnamese Tết and other celebrations, which share a lunar calendar but have their own customs and names. “Spring Festival” (Chūnjié) is the common Chinese name.
Why is Chinese New Year on a different date each year?
The Chinese calendar is lunisolar: months follow the moon, and leap months keep the calendar aligned with the solar year. New Year falls on the second new moon after the winter solstice (or the third in some years), which places it between January 21 and February 20.
What is eaten at Chinese New Year?
Reunion dinner dishes vary enormously by region. Common auspicious foods include dumplings in the north, nian gao (rice cake), whole fish, spring rolls, glutinous rice balls and foods whose names sound like prosperity, abundance or togetherness.