Hundreds of millions gathered Wednesday in homes and crowded festivals to mark the beginning of the Chinese lunar calendar new year, ringing in the Year of the Snake with feasts, dances, firework shows and traditional festivals.
A dancer prepares for a lion dance performance at the Ditan Park Temple Fair in Beijing on Jan. 29, 2025.
AFP via Getty Images
Key Takeaways
- The first new moon of the lunar calendar officially ushered in the new year in many cultures Wednesday, marking the imminent arrival of spring and the first day of the Year of the Snake, which symbolizes good luck, rebirth and regality.
- There are 12 zodiac animals in Chinese astrology and each is associated with one of the five elements—the snake of 2025 is a wood animal, which represents growth, flexibility and tolerance.
- People born in the year of the snake are said to be resilient and courageous, with strong interpersonal skills and leadership qualities, and the snake is considered to be the most tenacious of the 12 zodiac animals, with some counting people born these years as sinister and intimidating.
People take photos and videos of a lion dance during Lunar New Year celebrations at Yamashitacho Park on Jan. 29, 2025.
Getty Images
A performer sprays a shower of sparks from molten metal at a park on the first day of the Lunar New Year of Snake in Beijing.
AFP via Getty Images
Citizens and tourists enjoy festive atmosphere on Tongqing Street in Beijing, China.
VCG via Getty Images
What To Watch For
This year could bring “significant clashes and conflicts” and “the overall atmosphere in the world will become slightly more chaotic,” Thierry Chow, a Hong Kong-based feng shui consultant, warned in an interview with CNN.
What Is The Lunar New Year?
The Lunar New Year, or Chinese New Year, celebrates the start of the traditional lunisolar Chinese calendar. The first day of the Chinese New Year is marked by the first new moon that appears between Jan. 21 and Feb. 20 and it’s marked by a series of customs and traditions.
How Is The Chinese New Year Celebrated?
Chinese households are thoroughly cleaned before the official start of the holiday to rid the home of the previous year’s bad luck and usher in good luck for the coming year. Red, the color of joy and good fortune in Chinese culture, starts to appear on freshly painted doors, in decorations and in lanterns hung across the country.
Formal celebrations typically start with a family reunion and dinner the night before the new year, and new years day is marked by large gatherings of family and friends who give oranges, gifts and red envelopes of money to mark the occasion.
Public celebrations include festivals with lion dances, firework shows, prayers for prosperity and feasts including traditional holiday foods like sweet and sour pork, shrimp, dumplings, spring rolls, tangerines and whole fish. The fifteenth day of the new year is celebrated as the Lantern Festival.
Who Celebrates The Lunar New Year?
The occasion is one of the largest and most attended of any in Chinese culture and it’s also celebrated in Vietnam, Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Singapore, among other countries.
Filipinos watch a fireworks and drone show during Lunar New Year celebrations in Manila, Philippines.
Getty Images
People pray for healthy and prosperity at a temple on the Chinese New Year’s Day in Taipei, Taiwan.
Anadolu via Getty Images
A boy wearing traditional Chinese clothes poses for a photograph in front of the temple on the eve of the Chinese New Year in Jakarta, Indonesia.
NurPhoto via Getty Images
What Are The Chinese Zodiac Animals?
The twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac are the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog and pig. The cycle repeats itself in the same order every 12 years and each animal is celebrated for its unique characteristics and reputed attributes. The dragon, for instance, which was celebrated in 2024, represents power, strength, good luck and wisdom. Past years of the snake were 2013, 2001 and 1989.
Surprising Fact
The Lunar New Year is responsible for the world’s largest annual migration and hundreds of millions of people travel from big cities to their hometowns in celebration.
Big Number
9 billion. That’s how many trips people in China are expected to take between Jan. 28 to Feb. 4 to celebrate the Lunar New Year, with more than 510 million train trips and 90 million people traveling by plane, according to Voice of America. Authorities in China extended the annual break for the holiday an extra day this year in hopes travel and celebration will help boost a troubled economy.
This article was originally published on forbes.com and all figures are in USD.
Look back on the week that was with hand-picked articles from Australia and around the world. Sign up to the Forbes Australia newsletter here or become a member here.
