This year & the next celebration
When is Chinese New Year?
207 days ago
Chinese New Year 2026
17 February 2026Open this calendar month →147 days away
Chinese New Year 2027
6 February 2027Open this calendar month →Chinese New Year greetings
- 新年快乐 · Xīnnián kuàilè
- Happy New Year — a greeting for friends, relatives and colleagues.
- 恭喜发财 · Gōngxǐ fācái
- Wishing you prosperity — a traditional wish exchanged at New Year.
- 身体健康 · Shēntǐ jiànkāng
- Wishing you good health — often included in greetings to family and elders.
Mandarin phrases: Confucius Institute for Scotland’s New Year greetings.
Meaning & living traditions
What is Chinese New Year?
Preparing a fresh beginning
Preparations start before New Year’s Day: households clean, buy provisions and prepare festive food. Family gatherings and greetings reconnect generations, relatives, friends and neighbours.
Visits and gifts
Red packets carry wishes for the coming year. In Singapore, exchanging pairs of mandarin oranges is a familiar part of New Year visits, while the shared tossing of yusheng adds a distinctive local tradition.
From reunion to lanterns
New Year’s Eve centres on reunion. The following days bring visits and celebrations, with Lantern Festival on lunar 1/15 closing the traditional fifteen-day festive period. Public holidays and individual events follow their own schedules.
Why red appears everywhere
One familiar New Year legend tells of Nian, a fearsome creature driven away by red colours and loud noises. It is a story associated with the festival’s imagery, rather than a dated account of its beginning. Red paper decorations, couplets and envelopes now carry wishes for a fortunate new start.
The wishes inside a visit
New Year visits are exchanges, not simply a round of presents. Younger relatives greet elders, hosts welcome returning family, and symbolic foods give good wishes a tangible form. In Singapore, paired mandarin oranges evoke abundance; their Cantonese name also resembles the word for gold. The family gathering gives these gestures their meaning.
Calendar rule
When Chinese New Year falls
The first day of the first lunar month and the opening of a new lunar year.
The exact rule is 1st day of the 1st lunar month. Its Gregorian date moves because lunar months last 29 or 30 days, while leap months keep the lunar year aligned with the seasons.
Chinese New Year dates, 2023–2032
| Year | Gregorian date | Calendar position |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 22 January 2023 Chinese New Year 2023 is 22 January 2023. | Lunar 1/1 |
| 2024 | 10 February 2024 Chinese New Year 2024 is 10 February 2024. | Lunar 1/1 |
| 2025 | 29 January 2025 Chinese New Year 2025 is 29 January 2025. | Lunar 1/1 |
| 2026 | 17 February 2026 Chinese New Year 2026 is 17 February 2026. | Lunar 1/1 |
| 2027 | 6 February 2027 Chinese New Year 2027 is 6 February 2027. | Lunar 1/1 |
| 2028 | 26 January 2028 Chinese New Year 2028 is 26 January 2028. | Lunar 1/1 |
| 2029 | 13 February 2029 Chinese New Year 2029 is 13 February 2029. | Lunar 1/1 |
| 2030 | 3 February 2030 Chinese New Year 2030 is 3 February 2030. | Lunar 1/1 |
| 2031 | 23 January 2031 Chinese New Year 2031 is 23 January 2031. | Lunar 1/1 |
| 2032 | 11 February 2032 Chinese New Year 2032 is 11 February 2032. | Lunar 1/1 |
Observance
How it is observed
In China, recorded Spring Festival practices include preparing the home and food, reuniting with family, exchanging greetings and joining community festivities; each household keeps its own mix.
Common questions
Understanding Chinese New Year
Does the animal year change on January 1?
No. The lunar-calendar year animal changes at Chinese New Year. Dates earlier in January or February may still belong to the previous lunar year; the converter checks the actual boundary.
Who gives red packets?
In the Singapore tradition described here, married people give money in decorative red envelopes. The gift carries a blessing; customs and amounts depend on the family and community.
Does the celebration need a large banquet?
No. A shared meal, greetings and time together can express the reunion theme without an elaborate programme.
The calendar around the next occurrence
Chinese New Year in 2027
Saturday, 6 February 2027 is lunar month 1, day 1, in lunar year 2027. It opens the Yin Fire Goat year.
The incoming lunar year
Yin Fire Goat
354 days across 12 lunar months, with no leap month.
Explore this lunar year →Inside lunar month 1
30 days in this month
From 6 February 2027 to 7 March 2027. The festival is on day 1.
Beginning of Spring
The solar term begins on 4 February 2027.
Convert the festival date →
Moon around the celebration
New moon
The new moon instant is 23:56 · UTC+8 on this date.
Moon phases for the festival month →From Laba to the lanterns
15 January 2027
Laba FestivalLunar date & day reading →5 February 2027
Lunar New Year's EveLunar date & day reading →6 February 2027
Chinese New YearLunar date & day reading →20 February 2027
Lantern FestivalLunar date & day reading →
The next celebration · 6 February 2027 · UTC+8
The complete Chinese New Year day reading
The festival sets the occasion; its day pillar, activities, directions and hours change each year. This reading is for 6 February 2027.
Daily almanac · 2027-02-06
Chinese New Year: activities & day animal
丙辰 Yang Fire Dragon
The stem gives Fire; the branch gives Dragon.
Read this stem against your Day Master →Huang Dao and Hei Dao name the day-god cycle. For a particular plan, read its Yi and Ji activities below.
宜 Traditionally suitable
- Hold a wedding嫁娶
- Coming-of-age ceremony冠笄
- Make a formal betrothal proposal纳采
- Travel出行
- Meet relatives and friends会亲友
- Raise the main roof beam上梁
- Install machinery安机械
- Set up a bed安床
- Raise livestock牧养
- Hunt畋猎
- Ritual offerings祭祀
- Pray for blessings祈福
- Consecrate a sacred image开光
- Build or renovate修造
- Install a door安门
- Roof or build a house盖屋
- Lay a foundation起基
忌 Traditionally avoid
Medical care should follow clinical need; do not postpone treatment because of an almanac entry.
Calendar terms explained
This day in the traditional cycles
Each result below names this date’s position and explains what the term means.
- Day pillar 日柱
- Yang Fire Dragon · 丙辰— this date’s position in the repeating 60-day stem–branch cycle.Hidden stems are stems conventionally contained in the day pillar’s earthly branch. Primary is the main layer; middle and residual are secondary layers.
- Yang Earth · Wù 戊 (primary)
- Yin Wood · Yǐ 乙 (middle)
- Yin Water · Guǐ 癸 (residual)
- Month pillar 月柱
- Yang Water Tiger · 壬寅— the month’s position in the 60-part stem–branch cycle.
- Year pillar 年柱
- Yin Fire Goat · 丁未— Fire generates Earth; the year’s position in the 60-year cycle.
- Day Na Yin 纳音
- Sand Earth · 沙中土— a fixed named element assigned to this pillar; its element is Earth.
- Day animal 生肖
- Dragon · 龙— the animal of the earthly branch in this date’s pillar.
- Opposes 冲
- Yang Metal Dog · 庚戌— a Six Clash (六冲), the branch directly opposite this date’s branch in the 12-branch cycle.
- Lunar mansion 宿
- Root · 氐— this date’s position in the repeating 28-mansion cycle.East palace (东) · Raccoon dog creature (貉) · traditionally unfavourable (凶)
- Day officer 建除
- Full · 满— determined by this date’s earthly branch relative to its solar-term month branch.
- Auspicious directions 吉方
- Joy 喜神: Southwest (西南)
- Blessing 福神: Northwest (西北)
- Wealth 财神: Southwest (西南)
- Peng Zu lines 彭祖百忌
- The verse cautions against repairing a stove, saying misfortune may follow.丙不修灶必见灾殃The verse cautions against weeping, saying another bereavement may follow.辰不哭泣必主重丧Two traditional almanac caution lines selected by this date’s stem and branch.
All hours and their hour gods · UTC+8
Auspicious hours for Chinese New Year
Read every interval and its traditional classification. A favorable hour is separate from suitability for a particular activity.
Heavenly Prison
InauspiciousDark Warrior
InauspiciousController of Destiny
AuspiciousGou Chen
InauspiciousAzure Dragon
AuspiciousBright Hall
AuspiciousHeavenly Punishment
InauspiciousVermilion Bird
InauspiciousGolden Coffer
AuspiciousHeavenly Virtue
AuspiciousWhite Tiger
InauspiciousJade Hall
AuspiciousWhite Tiger
Inauspicious
The Rat double-hour crosses midnight. Its 00:00–00:59 and 23:00–23:59 portions belong to different hourly cycles, so both are listed separately. How the hourly cycle works →
The Moon this month · UTC+8
February 2027 moon phases
New moon
Lunar 1/1
First quarter
Lunar 1/9
Full moon
Lunar 1/16
Last quarter
Lunar 1/23
Calculated phase moments use fixed UTC+8. A lunar day number and a Moon phase describe different things. How they fit together →
Plan around Chinese New Year
See the festival in its month or compare the surrounding days with your own birth-year animal.