I loved researching about the Lunar New Year in school many moons ago. It seems like such a fun tradition of welcoming a new year by playing games, watching lion dances, eating tangyuan 🤤 and releasing lanterns.
Gonna start a new tradition by going to the ayce buffet near me cause they have specials for LNY 🎉 eating as many dumplings as I can to manifest a prosperous 2026 🧧🙏 S/o to my fave abg @HoeNotFound 💘 LOOKING FORWARD TO MAKING MORE MEMORIES W U EVERY LNY 🌟
I always wanted to watch the lanterns and to eat sweet dumplings I havent ever gotten to try so I think that would be what I look forward to first ♡
As a person with Chinese relatives, CNY is one the most festive holiday for me. When I was a child, i was excited because of the red envelope 🧧* kaching kaching* ✨ but now that my elders are you know, ehem .. growing older and older ..I'm mostly looking forward to the family gathering, the delicious foods, and colorful decorations. Truly a priceless core memory thats worthy to pass on.
Core CNY memory for me was when I was super young (and a lot more fluent in Chinese). I was the oldest out of all my cousins and rattled off blessings to the point my aunties and uncles gave me extra hongbao 🤩 I remember eating the best food and making epic profit those years!!
In my country, a lot of people celebrate CNY and one of the things that always interests me bcs it looks fun is Lo Hei/Yee Sang, or also known as Prosperity Toss. I first experienced it while working. Everyone would gather around a table togetjer and would mix and toss a shared plate of salad and raw fish and its symbolic to welcoming good fortune and prosperity 🧧
One that really stands out is the reunion dinner on New Year’s Eve, where families gather to share symbolic foods like dumplings for wealth and fish for abundance. I also think the red envelopes are meaningful—not just for the money, but for the wishes of luck and protection they represent. If I had the chance, I’d love to take part in a reunion dinner and experience how food, family, and tradition all come together to start the year with intention and hope.
One of my favorite Lunar New Year memories is the quiet excitement just before midnight, when everyone is awake but calm, waiting for the new year to begin 🩷 The table is full of traditional dishes, each meant to bring luck, health, and prosperity Family members share stories from the past year, forgive old worries, and laugh freely. When the new year arrives, there’s a warm feeling of hope—like no matter what happened before, this is a chance to begin again together. 🌙🎊
I learned about it from watching Over the Moon a few years back 😊 I really like how seriously they take the celebrations, I don't see a lot of that where I'm from.
I find it all so beautiful! My favorite would have to be cutie three legged money toad. toads and frogs are the best 🥹💚
LNY is such a beautiful memory for me even from early childhood to present day. It was always a time to get to be close with my family that resembled me in appearance. Not just be close with them but to also celebrate who we are. Together. I come from a mixed race family and I happen to look much more Asian than my Caucasian father and his side of the family. So I often felt out of place when we would gather with extended family. The colors, flavors and traditions of LNY truly helped me see the pride in being different. It’s also such a beautiful time of year for Asian people as. We all have different backgrounds but we also celebrate in our own way but this is still a time of unity in my eyes. Now as all of the family is getting older we do not all congregate together but I usually go to Chicago to meet up with a handful of diverse Asian friends to celebrate together.
One of my favorite Lunar New Year Memories is the lively music, the dragon dance, loud and colorful fireworks 🎇, and ohh the mooncake 🤤
The first Lunar New Year event I attended was Tết last year. It was a lovely experienced and allowed me to try a bunch of new foods that are now my favorite. I think LNY celebrations are lovely. I attended a larger Lunar New Year event last year but won’t be able to attend this year due to work. Though it may be postponed due to snow.
I'm gonna give the most Chinese answer and just say that it's the family mahjong games. A lil Shandy or some other beer on the side, just playing mahjong and talking random stuff for the night. Nothing really beats that.
Asian culture is dear to my heart ❤️ LNY is not something I’ve got to celebrate yet but I know a bit about it! Honestly my favorite thing is the colors and symbols within the decor and stories!
i live in a populated city where ppl come to live & to work. every LNY, the atmosphere is very different bc everyone go back to their hometown to gather with their families, so the city is no longer busy, there is barely anyone on the streets it gives off a very nostalgic vibe. i always enjoy the atmosphere so much, it makes me feel like i have all the time in the world just to sink into the transition, the moment before going back to our normal busy daily life. happy Tet hihii🧧🎉
It.. actually doesn’t feel the same any more. Before Covid, going back to my hometown during CNY (or LNY for you peeps) was something my family and I always look forward to. Whether we applied for leave from work, when we are leaving (since traffic on the road can last up to 12 hours for a 4 hour trip), and whether we already bought our new clothes to visit relatives all those years ago. There was always a home we could go back and sleep in without the need to look for an Airbnb; my dad singing with a light step every time he walks, my mum harassing us to be faster with our packing, me figuring out what to take to entertain me for at least 8 hours, and my sister.. waking up late again 🙄. The trip was always tiring. Occasionally no 3G network, endless cars and motorists speeding past us as mountains and occasional buildings past us by. My dad would have a few road rage every now and then, but we always made it home in time. Time for the reunion dinner where we get to taste my grandma’s food as she had painstakingly made the soup stock for the usual charcoal steamboat. Her refrigerator always filled to the brim with each of my family’s favorite food, and an icebox filled to the brim with carbonated drinks and beer. Her dogs would be greeting us by the door the moment the car arrived. And we would all be ushered in to freshen up before the whole family sits down and eat one hearty meal into the night that ends with wine and beer pairing the best steamboat in the world. The next day is always the usual. We wake up, greet my grandma and wish her Gong Xi Fa Cai, and we were all then ushered to pay respects at my grandfather’s brother’s house before we can go back home for lunch to eat her home-cooked meals. Those meals.. can never be replaced. I knew back then I would always regret not learning from her as she was a prestigious Nyonya chef, but my young foolish self always thought there would be another day.. Those times, where every time we would go home to see my grandma sitting with one leg up on her chair and smoking as she look on at all of us enjoying her food, will never return. She would purposely make these set of crazy eyes and respond to our jokes with jokes of her own. For example, “You opened the door but I got no tips for you though” and she would exaggerate her saying she would have tipped us big while we rolled our eyes at her since tipping isn’t a culture here in Asia. But, those years felt like another dream; another life. I have always associated CNY with my grandma, that it doesn’t feel real when CNY rolled around after her death. The trip back home was the same. Relatives were the same. They tried making steamboat while we gathered around to eat the reunion dinner. But, although the steamboat looks more luxurious when we scooped it into our antique bowls served with exquisite utensils, it doesn’t feel the same. It never, ever did. My aunt would bring strangers and friends to our reunion dinners; people whom we never met before to join us in a meal that was meant to be only for family. The one small circle table was split into two, with our family members split apart from each other during the meal. We were forced to wear expensive clothes to ensure my aunt does not lose “face” in front of her guests, which was a sharp contrast to us just wearing our most comfortable house clothes when we ate steamboat at home. And my aunts and uncle whom I never met for so long, would always be on the other table, which really defeats the purpose of a reunion dinner to be honest. Yeah.. it is just not the same. I cried while typing about my grandma, but this event really made me realized that my favorite CNY event has lost a lot of its spark. A spark that was kept alive when my grandma was alive.
But, my family is going back one final time this coming February. To honour my ancestors and grandparents. To celebrate my sister getting married soon since this will be the last year she can be with us. And, to say goodbye to the home I once knew. Wishing you all a Happy Chinese New Year. 🧧 Best wishes, 1993 💧🐓