Chinese people believe that what you do at the beginning of a new year will affect your luck in the coming year. Giving out red packets to kids and elders will help cast away the bad luck and bring good luck in. Additionally decorating your house with kumquat trees (symbolizing wealth & good luck), wearing your lucky color (yellow, red), and eating lucky food like rice dumplings (family togetherness), fried flour-coated peanuts (vitality), walnut cookies (happiness), are popular ways to get lucky.
Celebrating the New Year in Japan means paying special attention to the "first" time something is done in the New Year. Hatsuhinode is the first sunrise of the year. Before sunrise on January 1, people often drive to the coast or climb a mountain so that they can see the first sunrise of the New Year. The real celebration does not begin until sunrise when the traditional meal of vegetables, seafood and dessert is served in one dish - the different types of food symbolizing prosperity.
In Asia, sunrise celebrations and honoring of the ancestors and elders brings luck.
Koreans make wishes for the New Year while watching the sunrise. Some wear traditional clothing. Family members gather early in the morning to remember their ancestors. After the observance, they eat a kind of rice cake soup. Koreans believe that eating this food will add an extra year to their life. After the meal, young people lower their heads to honor their parents and older adults. This means good health and good wishes. Many parents give the children money.
Vietnamese people get up and put on new clothes at sunrise.
Mongolians have a tradition to climb the nearest sacred hill or mountain on the first morning of the New year, offering dishes and burning juniper and incense sticks to welcome the New Year.
2026 is the year of the Horse. According to Chinese astrology, the Horse is confident, agreeable, and responsible, although they also tend to dislike being reined in by others. They’re fit and intelligent, adoring physical and mental exertion; they’re decisive but also easily swayed and impatient.
Famous Figures Born in the Year of the Snake
Joe Biden, Mike Tyson, Jackie Chan, Kobe Bryant, Emma Watson, Clint Eastwood, Greta Thunberg, Cindy Crawford.
Plan on being early enough to witness the sunrise. We'll start to gather around 6:30 a.m. and hang till about 7:30 a.m. Happy New Year Everyone.
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