Jan. 29 marks the beginning of the Lunar New Year, one of the most important festivals in many Asian countries, including Vietnam, China, Korea and the Asian diaspora. Many travel back to their hometowns to spend time with their loved ones. It's a time for many to honor their elders, reflect on the past year's joys and tragedies, and set intentions for a good year ahead.
Each culture celebrating the Lunar New Year has traditions passed down from generation to generation that are thought to bring good luck.
For the Lunar New Year 2025, I asked NPR readers and listeners to share the new and old traditions they practice to ensure a lucky year ahead. Here are some of their responses, edited for length and clarity.
Lucky envelopes
Nearly every respondent had fond memories of receiving lucky envelopes. After all, who would be unhappy with being given cold hard cash? These envelopes are traditionally red and gold and stuffed with crisp, never-used bills.
Usually, elders hand these envelopes to young, unmarried family members as a token of good luck in exchange for well-wishes. But Stacy Nguyen, an artist from Seattle, says the practice has relaxed slightly. "Friends give them to other friends. We give envelopes to give joy and happiness," she said.
Nguyen began creating her own envelopes for the Lunar New Year five years ago to connect with other Vietnamese people. As a kid, she would always receive envelopes with Chinese characters, and she wondered why there weren't more Vietnamese-themed ones. While traditional envelopes are red and gold, Nguyen's envelopes feature the animal in the Chinese zodiac associated with that year. 2025 is the Year of the Snake.
Start with a clean slate
Several readers said they clean their homes top to bottom on the days leading up to the new year.
"You want to do that before the new year itself to get rid of any bad luck that came with the past year and make way for good fortune and prosperity into the new year," said Chelsea Tan, a baker from Reston, Va.
Penny Lee of Silver Spring, Md., has a thorough cleaning routine. She declutters her closets, donates clothes she no longer needs, disposes of expired food from her fridge and pantry and reorganizes all the spaces in her home.
Many readers cautioned that you should stop cleaning once the new year arrives. "Throwing anything out on the new year means throwing out your good luck," Tran Tran of Worcester, Mass., said.
Alison Wong of New York City says going into the new year with a clean slate makes her feel like she can get a fresh start. "I feel like having everything cleaned allows me to enjoy the New Year celebrations."
Setting yourself up for success
Wong adds that many Chinese traditions around the new year, like cleaning or eating sweets, are all about setting the mood for the year ahead. "A lot of it feels about intent. [Eating] sweet treats in the morning not only signals a new change for the new year, but it's about bringing in only sweet moments in life.
"What you do on the first day of the new year is how your year will go," said Rebe C. of Annandale, Va., "On New Year's Day, I live as if it's my 'perfect day.' I wake up early, meditate, spend quality time with family, and dedicate time to the hobby I want to focus on throughout the year.
Thao Bui of New York City and her partner believe that the first person who walks into your home sets the tone for the entire year. That's why her partner takes a walk around the neighborhood on the New Year before returning home, as part of a Vietnamese custom known as xông đất. "We don't want any zodiac signs clashing with ours to bring bad luck," she said.
Lucky color red
Just like Christmas and Halloween, decorations play a big part in Lunar New Year festivities. Athan Lau's family uses red decorations to sweep out bad luck from the past year. He also remembers watching red firecrackers as a kid every new year.
"Red symbolizes happiness, luck, and celebration, all from the Legend of Nian," Lau said. "Nian was a folklore monster who ate people from a Chinese village until one day, an old man came and told the people to make loud noises, decorate their homes in red, and create bright light. Today, we dress and decorate in red and gold because it brings good fortune to our family. We also celebrate together to honor family values and our great-grandparents and ancestors who came before us."
Eat your way to good fortune
Many foods eaten during the Lunar New Year symbolize good luck or prosperity.
Chelsea Tan, originally from Malaysia, and Steven Teo, originally from Singapore, participate in the "prosperity toss," also known as yee sang or lo hei. This tradition involves tossing a salad made with fish and other crunchy vegetables.
Tan says the ingredients in the salad represent different things: fish for abundance, vegetables for vitality and so on. Participants gather around the table and toss the salad as high as possible while shouting things for good luck. "The higher you toss, the luckier you are," Tan said.
Teo, who calls this dish lo hei, says lo means to mix but can also mean the act of doing business. "So tossing the salad higher means your business or work will improve next year. Hei means happiness."
Mary Yee fondly remembers her mother and aunts making dumplings on the Lunar New Year as the family gathered for a large meal. Although my grandparents and parents are no longer with us, I am grateful for their sharing these traditions with me so that I may pass them along to my children, grandchildren, and the generations to come," she said.
Dress for success
Many readers look forward to wearing a new outfit to symbolize a fresh start. Others like to wear clothing that is traditional to their cultures, like food blogger Kristen Morita, who wears a traditional Chinese cheongsam for the holiday. She says she wore her mother's cheongsam to her wedding and later learned that more modern interpretations of the dress are available. Now, she and her children celebrate their traditions through fashion.
Lena Chen of Sebastopol, Calif., did not grow up with a lot of money. She remembers when her mother saved all year to buy fabrics to make new clothes for her as a child. "It was the most beautiful red dress my sister and I had ever worn! After all these years, I still remember it as a labor of love from my mother."
In addition to the clothes, some believe your hair can determine your luck for the year. Karen Yee of San Francisco, says she doesn't cut or wash her hair on New Year's Day. "Hair and luck in Chinese are homonyms," she said. "So if you cut or wash your hair on the day of the Lunar New Year, it means you are washing or cutting the luck you have at the start of the year."
New traditions
While many of these traditions have been passed down through generations, a few readers have adopted new ones significant to their families.
Instead of lucky envelopes filled with cash, Tara Hall of Framingham, Mass., mails three instant scratch-off lottery tickets to her loved ones. "I like the idea of testing your luck, not knowing if or how much you could win," she says. Since she began the tradition before the pandemic, she's sent just over 30 tickets to her family members. She says if anyone wins, they must take her to dinner. So far, she's had no luck.
Marelle Kuo of Detroit says books were here "happy place" during a challenging childhood as a Taiwanese immigrant. She wanted to pass on her love of books to her children so they read a new one each year. This year, they'll read We Are Lion Dancers by Benson Shum. "Even though my children will never experience the world as immigrants, it is important that they understand their rich Taiwanese heritage," she said. "I grew up feeling that I had to assimilate to survive. I do not want that for my children."
Carol Ritchie edited this article. The radio version of this story was produced by Destinee Adams and edited by Barry Gordemer.
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