New Year in Beijing; Celebrate Chinese New Year in Beijing

Chinese New Year is upon us. Just pull yourself out from whatever rock you’ve been living under, and get yourself ready down to Beijing for one of the Eastern hemisphere’s most kicking traditional festival periods.

Where else can on celebrate the Chinese New Year with utmost fun other than in the capital of China, Beijing?

1. Chinese New Year Eve Experience

Chinese New Year Eve is greatly observed, and the biggest event of any Chinese New Year’s Eve is the dinner every family will have.

A dish consisting of fish will appear on the tables of Chinese families. It is for display for the New Year's Eve dinner. This meal is comparable to Christmas dinner in the West.

In northern China, it is customary to make dumplings (jiaozi 饺子) after dinner and have it around midnight. Dumplings symbolize wealth because their shape is like a Chinese tael.

By contrast, in the South, it is customary to make a new year cake (Niangao, 年糕) after dinner and send pieces of it as gifts to relatives and friends in the coming days of the new year. Niangao literally means increasingly prosperous year in year out.

After the dinner, some families go to local temples, hours before the New Year begins to pray for a prosperous new year by lighting the first incense of the year; however in modern practice, many households hold parties and even hold a countdown to the new lunar year.

Beginning in 1982, the CCTV New Year's Gala was broadcast four hours before the start of the New Year.

2. Where to start the first day of Chinese New Year in Beijing

In Beijing, every Chinese New Year starts with a gathering at an ancient site. The Temple Fair, a site purely dedicated to spiritual worship long time ago, has embraced commerce in its current form, and it has been a seminal part of the New Year agenda.

Just as Christmas would be far less without Santa, so the New Year party in Beijing would be found wanting without the Temple Fair.

3. Fire in the sky and on the ground

Playing with fireworks can be dangerous, but Chinese New Year wouldn’t be the same without the sulfurous smell and ear-ring crackles of firecrackers.

At the point of midnight, explosions will erupt from every corner of the city. Some say the fireworks evoke the spirit of the dragon, a symbol of good fortune in Chinese tradition. Others say the explosions drive away evil. Either way, it's a spectacular (if slightly dangerous) way to get into the party mood. Do watch out as you walk about for the odd stray cracker that could be headed your way.

4. Nightlife during the Chinese New Year Festival

After the firecrackers have died down, and you’re looking for some peace and quiet to welcome in the New Year, try Lutus Blue, while for those energetic nightlife masters, head down to Coco Banana, or Cargo club.

5. Great Wall Hiking

Since you are here, why not take a day out to visit the Great Wall, even if it does mean trekking out of the city in below freezing weather.

Besides, after the entire hullabaloo, a visit to the Mutianyu Great Wall will be a nice escape from the madness.