Ask a QuestionChinese New Year, or Spring Festival, is the most important festival for Chinese people. In a country as large as China, it’s normal that Chinese New Year traditions vary from place to place. What are the differences? You can find the answers in the following discussion on Chinese New Year Celebration in Northern and Southern China.
Xiaonian, Little New Year in English, falls on the lunar calendar one week before the Spring Festival, which is considered to be the start of spring for the new year. It is also a traditional day to offer sacrifices to the Kitchen God, who oversees the moral character of each household.
Usually people in northern China celebrate Xiaonian on December 23rd on Chinese lunar calendar, while people in southern China celebrate on December 24th.
When it comes to staple food for Chinese New Year, dumplings may be your first answer in mind. Actually, Chinese New Year foods are not all about dumplings, because people in northern China eat dumplings on New Year’s Eve, while people in southern China prefer Niangao and Tangyuan.
Dumplings VS Tangyuan
On Chinese New Year’s Eve, Chinese people will enjoy the reunion dinner with their family members. In the north, people will cook all kinds of delicious dishes, hand-wrapping dumplings are the norm. Except for dumplings, long noodles are also popular in some regions, with good meanings of longevity and prosperity.
Eating dumplings is a lucky thing to do during Spring Festival, as the shape is like the silver and gold ingots of ancient China, so people think it a wonderful way to get good fortune. Normally people will add green onion, cabbage and pork as fillings. Some people will put a coin in one dumpling, one can get the best blessings when eats the dumpling with coin.
In the south, there are various dishes for the feast, but fish is the most popular one. Since “fish” in Chinese sounds like another word “surplus”, people believe that they could have a wealthy and prosperous life in the new year. Meanwhile, many families love hot pot, with all varieties of meat and vegetables.
Compared to dumplings, people prefer to eat Niangao, a kind of pellet-shaped cake made from glutinous rice, and Tangyuan, rice balls with sweet fillings. It is believed that those auspicious food could bring people good luck.
No matter in northern or southern China, people will spend some time on Chinese New Year decorations. Normally people will decorate the house after cleaning up, with couplets, lanterns and New Year paintings.
Chinese New Year Decorations
Most areas in northern China have the tradition of putting up paper cuttings on windows. People cut the scarlet paper into beautiful patterns, diversified with true-life contents. Element of Chinese zodiac is widely used when making paper cuttings.
However, people in southern China are not that into paper cuttings for windows. Instead, they like to buy flowers as decorations, such as peach blossoms, daffodils, peonies and butterfly orchids. What’s more, potted kumquat tree is really popular to see in southern cities, with good meanings of bringing good fortune and prosperity to the household.
Red is the Main Color for Spring Festival
Spring Festival Gala, Chunwan in Chinese, is an important part of Chinese New Year celebration. It is no exaggeration to say that the Spring Festival Gala is the most watched television program in the world, with performances like dance, music, drama and comedic skits.
Watching Spring Festival Gala
However, the data show that more people watch Spring Festival Gala in northern China than people in southern China. It’s a tradition for northern families to gather together watching Spring Festival Gala, chatting with each other and waiting for the midnight to come. But southern families would finish the reunion dinner late at night and usually go to bed whenever they want to.
Worshiping the ancestors is an important tradition for people in both northern and southern China. Traditionally, folk will worship their ancestors on the ever of Chinese Lunar New Year. Although people in different regions will do it in different ways, the purpose is to pray for good blessings for the whole family.
Northern people do it in a simple way, they will worship their ancestors at home, by placing offerings in front of their ancestors’ memorial, burning incense and joss paper, and setting off firecrackers.
In the south, some people visit temples with offerings, firecrackers and incense on New Year’s Day. Meanwhile, in rural areas, people climb to mountain graves to worship their ancestors.
Memorial for Ancestors
Speaking of Chinese New Year activities, paying New Year’s calls to relatives and friends is the most important activity for Chinese people. And there are various activities for celebrating the Spring Festival in different places.
In the north, many people would rather stay at home than going out, because it’s freezing cold outside. They usually play mahjong or poker with their family members and friends. And there are temple fairs in some places during the Spring Festival.
Lantern Displays in Shanghai Chenghuangmiao Old Street
In the south, weather during the Spring Festival is not as cold as what in the northern China. As a result, there are more outdoor activities, such as lantern displays and flower fairs.
In urban cities, more and more people prefer to go to the cinema with families on New Year’s Day, as there are plenty of excellent New Year movies. In addition, lots of Chinese will go traveling with families during Spring Festival.
Visiting China during Chinese New Year is a great chance to learn Chinese culture and customs. Even though there are differences of Chinese New Year celebration in northern and southern China, you can have a wonderful experience no matter which region you visit. See our cultural tours below.
Celebrate Spring Festival in China
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