The largest, most festive celebration in China and in Chinese communities around the world is Chinese New Year. Also known as Lunar New Year or Spring Festival, the two-week period is filled with family gatherings, parades with lion and dragon dances, fireworks, and of course, food. In 2025, the Chinese Year of the Snake celebration begins January 29 and ends with the Lantern Festival on February 12.
Chinese New Year Foods
Traditional Chinese New Year foods carry connotations of success, prosperity, health, and luck, either because their names sound like those words, or their shapes represent those themes. In China, pork symbolizes prosperity, strength, and abundant blessings, so many pork dishes are part of the celebration.
The parties begin on New Year’s Eve when everyone gathers at reunion dinners to honor their ancestors and enjoy the company of extended family. They continue into the Lantern Festival at the end of the two weeks. Food is at the center of all of it to bring happiness, health, and wealth in the New Year. We have some delicious and traditional recipe ideas for you to celebrate with your loved ones.
Pork Dumpling Soup
Pork dumplings resemble ancient silver coins and symbolize wealth. Families gather to make dumplings on New Year’s Eve and then eat them at midnight in the hopes of a prosperous New Year. It’s said the more dumplings you eat, the wealthier you’ll be. This warming and simple soup will get you well on your way to a successful New Year.
Sweet & Sour Pork
The word for “sour” in Cantonese sounds like the word for “grandchildren,” so Sweet & Sour Pork is eaten by those who wish to expand their families. We especially enjoy this recipe because of its simplicity.
Wontons
Like dumplings, wontons represent prosperity and wealth. These are filled with pork, ginger, and vegetables and finished in the air fryer, which makes them easy.
Lion’s Head Meatballs
Lion’s Head Meatballs signify strength and family unity. While there are many recipes for them, depending on the region of China, you can start with this easy meatball recipe and, instead of baking them, steam or braise them in a broth with bok choy. Dress them up with hoisin sauce to serve. Just be sure to double the size of the meatballs to show your success and prosperity.
Lettuce Rolls
In some parts of China, lettuce leaves wrapped around a meat filling signify rising fortunes in the New Year, but you can make them with any leafy green. This recipe for cabbage rolls is similar and equally delicious. If you want to add a little more authenticity, use bok choy for wrapping.
Spring rolls resemble gold bars and are eaten in great numbers during the two weeks of New Year celebrations in the hopes of attracting wealth. In addition, many dishes featuring whole fish, whole chickens, duck, and shrimp find their way to the celebrations, and of course, many varieties of rice dishes—sticky rice cake, sweet rice dumplings (tangyuan), and babao, or eight treasures rice—grace traditional tables throughout China.
Some Chinese New Year facts
Chinese New Year is celebrated based on the movements of the sun and moon as depicted in the Chinese solilunar calendar, and the date changes every year, unlike the West, which uses the solar Gregorian calendar. The Lunar New Year usually coincides with the second new moon after the winter solstice, between January 21 and February 21 each year, although on rare occasions, it can begin on the third new moon.
The celebration lasts for 16 days, from New Year’s Eve to the 15th day of the first lunar month of the year, which also heralds the beginning of Spring. Each year is governed by one of the 12 animals of the Chinese Zodiac.
Red is the most popular color in China, and represents good fortune, success, and happiness. During Chinese New Year, red envelopes containing money are a common and appreciated gift.
As you celebrate this Lunar New Year, all of us at Coleman wish you and everyone a year filled with success, prosperity, and good health.
The Coleman Way, since 1875, is our commitment to quality, taking pride in humanely raising animals on family farms in the U.S.A. with no antibiotics ever, no growth hormones, and 100% vegetarian fed. The result is premium, great-tasting, all-natural meats in a variety of cuts and flavors that can be easily prepared and that you can feel good about serving to family and friends
