Lunar New Year is the most important festive holiday of the year for Chinese people and is celebrated across the world.

This year, Lunar New Year falls on Feb. 10 and it’s the Year of the Dragon. According to Chinese cultural beliefs, the dragon is said to be the most auspicious zodiac animal – representing power, strength, courage and wisdom.

Lunar New Year is also a time to celebrate the arrival of spring, to wish for good luck and prosperity, to reunite with family and friends and embrace many different traditions. We asked our colleagues to share some of their traditions:

Suki Chow, Hong Kong

For me, Lunar New Year means a lot of things. It means eating delicious food, visiting temples and flower markets, and giving red packets that represent good wishes to loved ones. Most importantly, it means spending time with my family.

One of my most loved activities during Lunar New Year is decorating our home with my daughters. In 2023 which was the Year of the Rabbit, we decorated our home with rabbit dolls surrounded by the Chinese New Year flowers. When grandparents and friends visited our home, my kids would invite them to take photos with their rabbit dolls which symbolize good luck and happiness. Since 2024 is the Year of the Dragon, I look forward to decorating our home with different dragon ornaments and travelling to Japan with my family.

lunar new year

Yuen Shang, Malaysia

For me, the best way to spread festive joy is by decorating the house with red. In Chinese culture, red has always been a symbol of good fortune and joy. It is used to scare away spirits of bad fortune and to protect villagers from harm.

Chinese New Year is also known as the Spring Festival, so decorating our house using blooms is encouraged. The flowers also symbolize the renewal of life and wishes for a prosperous new year.

Lunar New Year is a time for families and relatives to be together. On the first day of Chinese New Year, we get up early and put on new clothes to visit relatives. Visting loved ones during this festive season is known as “Bai Nian” – this is to wish them a good year ahead. “Ang Bao,” or red packets, contain money and are usually given out by elders and married couples as gifts to the young and unmarried, and adults also give Ang Bao to the elderly as blessings of good fortune.

Gong Xi Fa Cai! I wish you all a year of prosperity and strength in the Year of the Dragon!

The Year of the Dragon: Reflecting on Lunar New Year traditions

Hongqiang Wang, Greater China

As I was born in 1984, this year is the year I turn 40. In Chinese culture, we have the phrase

”四十不惑” (sìshí bùhuò) which translates to "40 and no longer perplexed” – and it means that when you reach 40, a person should have gained enough wisdom and experience to be free from doubt about life.

So, this Lunar New Year is particularly significant to me as it means that I will step into a new chapter in my life; I feel like life starts at 40 and I can be my true authentic self without doubts.

Coincidentally, I joined Avanade in February 2020, so I will be celebrating the fourth anniversary of my orange life during the Lunar New Year break. Whilst the past four years have by no means been easy and were filled with ups and downs, I now have the confidence to thrive thanks to everything I learned in the past four years and all the support from leadership, colleagues and friends here in China and across our global community.

During Lunar New Year, I will use the time to reflect on how I was empowered this year, and how I can enrich others in the future.

Of course, Lunar New Year is also very important family time. I have planned a long-awaited family trip to Zhuhai and Macau – two resort cities neighboring Hong Kong – with my wife, two boys and parents-in-law.

First, we will enjoy the wonderland "Chime Long Ocean Kingdom,” a very popular theme park in Zhuhai. Then we plan to attend "City Walk" in Macau to experience the blending of a traditional Lunar New Year atmosphere, set amongst the unique Western landscape with casinos that attract flocks of tourists worldwide.

We then will travel back to our home in Nanjing, spending Lunar New Year Eve with my parents, grandmother and other relatives. Our family tradition is that the children will receive money as a gift for the new year, and together we watch CCTV’s Spring Festival Live Gala.

Finally, I would like to wish everyone a happy, peaceful and prosperous Year of the Dragon.