Happy Lunar New Year
新年快乐
Join the Partnership Community
Make an impact this Lunar New Year by joining our Partnership Community. Members of the Partnership Community give monthly to help create sustainable, ongoing support for the indigenous church in China.
What is Chinese New Year?
Chinese New Year (or Lunar New Year, as it is called by many outside of China) is the most important holiday in China. The holiday is all about family. Every year, more than 200 million Chinese people travel back to their hometowns in order to be together with their parents, grandparents, siblings, and cousins. They cook together, they eat together, they set off fireworks, and they give red envelopes filled with money to the children. For Chinese people–and many other people all around Asia–it is an incredibly special time of year.
Chinese New Year Facts
- Chinese New Year is also called Spring Festival
- Chinese New Year can last up to 16 days, with 7 considered a public holiday
- During Chinese New Year, families decorate their houses with “Spring Couplets,” red strips of paper with gold lettering meant to convey messages of good health and fortune
- Chinese New Year ushers in a change of zodiac signs, with each year represented by a different animal
A Chinese Pastor Remembers Chinese New Year
“In my home in Guangdong province, most families would clean their home before the start of the celebration, symbolizing wiping away the bad luck from the previous year. After the cleaning, most families would decorate their houses with various red banners, like poems or couplets written on red paper.
On New Year’s Eve, immediate family members would gather together to have a large feast, while watching the annual Spring Festival Gala on CCTV. This four-hour variety show usually features the most famous and funniest Chinese entertainers, and is arguably the “Super Bowl” of Chinese television.
The next morning, many families hit the road to visit relatives. Family and friends would bestow one another with good wishes of health, fortune, and success in the new year. Kids are particularly happy because they will get to collect 红包 (red envelopes) from adults, each containing some money that they can add to their allowance. Such festivities will last from six to seven days.
Those who are unable to go home [are often] lonely and homesick, and there are many of them in the midst of us. Be the first to wish them a happy Chinese New Year. While it is great to invite them to your house for a meal, it may be even more worthwhile to visit them in their dorms or apartments, asking them to share memories of their traditions at home. Enter into their world and this may be the best way to care for your Chinese friends this holiday season.”
–Ryan Z., a Chinese pastor living in the US
Ways to get involved in 2024
#1: Join us in giving to the house church in China
Help create a sustainable impact by giving monthly. Would you join our Partnership Community towards the work of gospel renewal among Chinese people?
#2: Join us in praying for Chinese Cities
#3: Join us in learning from the house church in China
