On January 29, 2025, the Chinese Lunar New Year is the most important festival for Chinese people around the world. According to Chinese traditional customs, overseas Chinese will rush back home before New Year’s Eve to reunite with their families. Every household will have a big reunion dinner, sit around the stove, give lucky money, and visit friends and relatives to exchange New Year greetings.
The Year of the Snake in 2025 is approaching. At this moment of bidding farewell to the old and welcoming the new, the streets and alleys of China are already adorned with colorful decorations. People have prepared traditional New Year goods and are joyfully anticipating the long-awaited “family reunion” moment. For Chinese diaspora living around the world, especially those in Asian countries, although they may not feel the rich New Year atmosphere of their homeland, they will also find different ways to celebrate this festive holiday.
In Thailand, where there is a large community of overseas Chinese, the traditional customs of the Chinese New Year have been maintained. Cleaning, buying new clothes, putting up couplets, wearing traditional costumes, buying pastries, preparing special New Year’s dishes, paying respects to ancestors, visiting Chinatown and bustling markets to take photos, as well as going to temples to pray for blessings, are all ways Thais celebrate the Chinese traditional New Year.
In Malaysia, there are 2 days of public holidays during the Chinese New Year period. Many people enjoy the tradition of “lo hei” where a variety of fish, vegetables, condiments, and ingredients are placed in a large plate. People gather around in a circle, stand up, use chopsticks to mix the ingredients in the plate, while saying auspicious phrases, to symbolize a rising fortune, good luck, and smooth sailing in the new year.
The Chinese New Year is a public holiday in Vietnam, with a 5-day break. Vietnamese people usually start preparing for the Lunar New Year from the beginning of the lunar month. They buy New Year goods, offerings, clean and decorate their homes, purchase New Year paintings, put up spring couplets, and must have lucky flowers which include peach blossoms, kumquat bonsai, and five-fruit trays to symbolize good luck and blessings.