Hundreds of millions of people in China and other parts of East Asia are on the move this week to celebrate New Year’s with family gatherings, feasts and traditional activities honoring ancestors and hoping to bring good fortune.
Colloquially known as “Chinese New Year,” the Lunar New Year falls on Jan. 29 this year, but it can come as early as Jan. 21 or as late as Feb. 20. In 2026, the holiday falls on Feb. 17.
The variation is the result of using a lunar calendar based on the phases of the moon, modified into a lunisolar calendar that addresses leap years to keep it roughly in line with the solar year of the Western, or Gregorian, calendar.
Most East Asian nations adopted the Gregorian calendar in the late 19th or early 20th centuries, and the lunisolar calendar is used for cultural events, religious ceremonies, and for some people, birthdays.
The reason “Chinese New Year” is a misnomer is that the holiday is also observed on the same date in South Korea and Vietnam –- two neighbors of China that were heavily influenced by Chinese culture centuries ago. Like China, they will ring in the Year of the Snake on Wednesday.
In South Korea, the holiday is called Seollal and features a return to hometowns, the wearing of traditional hanbok attire, playing folk games, and performing rites and offering food to deceased relatives to honor the family lineage.
Young people bow deeply before their elders and receive gifts and money, and rice cake soup is a main treat for the holiday, which is a three-day affair.
Kim Dynasty and Tet
North Korea, separated from the South in the wake of World War II in a division cemented by the 1950-53 Korean War, returned to the practice of celebrating the Lunar New Year in 1989, and made it an official holiday in 2003.
But the most important holidays in North Korea focus on the birthdates of founder Kim Il Sung and his son Kim Jong Il, the father of current leader Kim Jong Un. Even Lunar New Year is observed mainly by visits to statues of the two elder Kims.
The ceremony Monlam (“Wish Path”) held at major monasteries of the Gelug sect of Tibetan Buddhism entails monks chanting and praying to bring peace and good fortune to their Himalayan region.
The Uyghurs of the Xinjiang region, annexed by China in 1949-50, celebrate Nowruz, the Persian New Year. It falls on or near the Spring Equinox and will be observed on March 20 this year.
The holiday is observed by various ethnic groups in countries along the Silk Road, including Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, India, Iran, Iraq, central Asian states and Turkey.
For the Uyghurs, facing repression under Chinese rule and heavy-handed assimilation policies, there is a strong emphasis on preserving cultural identity through gatherings, feasts of special food, music and dance.
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In Southeast Asia, while Vietnam follows the Chinese-inspired calendar and traditions, the traditionally Buddhist nations of Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar mark the solar new year in mid-April, when the sun enters the sign of Aries the Ram.
The people of Myanmar celebrate the Burmese New Year, called Thingyan, or Water Festival, by throwing buckets of water on each other and on Buddha images as an act of prayer to wash away misfortunes to welcome the new year. It falls on April 13-16 this year.
Edited by Malcolm Foster.
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