Asian American communities around the U.S. and around the world are ringing in the Year of the Snake Wednesday, including in New York City.
The Lunar New Year, also known as the Chinese New Year or Spring Festival, is a celebration of the arrival of spring and the beginning of a new year on the lunisolar calendar, according to the National Museum of Asian Art.
The days-long holiday is celebrated, not only in China, but across various Asian countries, as well as places with large Chinese populations.
The holiday is a fifteen-day celebration, according to the National Museum of Asian Art, with the final day of the holiday being the Lantern Festival (Feb. 12, 2025). Celebrations include traditional chinese food, red decorations, cleaning one's home, firecrackers, and visiting family.
THE YEAR OF THE SNAKE
The Chinese Zodiac works with a 12-year cycle, with a different animal representing different animal. 2025 is the Year of the Snake.
The snake represents calmness and introspection -- traits seen as important for "guiding one's life with wisdom and grace," according to chinesenewyear.net. "Snakes are known in the zodiac for their wisdom, intuition, and mystery. Naturally strategic, they are excellent problem-solvers and skilled communicators."
WHAT IS BEN MING NIAN?
According to Chinese legend, Nian was a terrifying monster with sharp teeth and horns, living deep in the sea who would come ashore to create chaos in the villages every Lunar New Year’s Eve, chinesenewyear.net explains. Villagers soon realized that the beast was afraid of the color red and loud noises, so in order to protect themselves, they hung red decorations and lit firecrackers, driving Nian back to the sea.
According to chinesenewyear.net, 2025 is the Ben Ming Nian for those born in a snake year. A Ben Ming Nian year is one that is traditionally believed to bring bad luck because of a conflict with the God of Age, known as Tai Sui.
If you were born in a snake year, you should wear red throughout the year to protect yourself from the bad luck of Ben Ming Nian, according to chinesenewyear.net, which also adds that although the zodiac year may be challenging for those born in a snake year, it will lead to wisdom and personal growth.
CHINESE NEW YEAR AROUND THE WORLD
Firecrackers popped, incense was offered at temples and dancers and drummers paraded Wednesday in Asia and farther afield as millions around the world celebrated the Lunar New Year.
From Beijing to Havana, the holiday — known as the Spring Festival in China, Tet in Vietnam and Seollal in Korea — is a major festival celebrated in many countries. Wednesday marked the start of the Year of the Snake, one of 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac.
Throngs of people in down jackets filled a Beijing park for a “temple fair” on a sunny but chilly day. Some rang bells and tossed coins into containers in the shape of gold bars for good luck, while others ate traditional snacks from food stalls and took photos with a person dressed up as the God of Wealth.
The Lunar New Year is a time to wish for good luck and prosperity in the coming year for oneself and others.
“The past year was a very busy one for me, because I had to take care of both my kid and my work,” said Beijing resident Jiang Hecang. "In the Year of the Snake, I wish my kid will grow healthily and my work can remain stable. Then I can be happy enough.”
In Malaysia, the crackling of firecrackers greeted the new year outside Guan Di temple in the capital, Kuala Lumpur, followed by lion dances to the rhythmic beat of drums and small cymbals.
Ethnic Chinese held incense sticks in front of them and bowed several times inside the temple before sticking the incense into elaborate gold-colored pots, the smoke rising from the burning tips.
Hundreds of people lined up on the eve of the Lunar New Year at the Wong Tai Sin Taoist temple in Hong Kong in a bid to be among the first to put incense sticks in the stands in front of the temple’s main hall at 11 p.m.
“I wish my family will be blessed. I hope my business will run well. I pray for my country and wish people peace. I hope this coming year is a better year,” said Ming So, who visits the temple annually for the late-night ritual.
Many Chinese who work in bigger cities return home during the eight-day national holiday in what is described as the world’s biggest annual movement of humanity. The exodus turns Beijing, China's capital, into a bit of a ghost town, with many shops closed and normally crowded roads and subways emptied.
Traditionally, Chinese have a family dinner at home on New Year's Eve. On the Lunar New Year, many visit temples to pray and attend temple fairs to watch performances and buy snacks, toys and other trinkets.
“I bring my children here to experience the atmosphere, because the New Year atmosphere ... is fading,” Beijing resident Wang Xinxin said at a temple fair at Ditan Park, the former Temple of Earth in the Ming and Qing dynasties.
“Children like mine don’t have much idea what New Year was like in Beijing before, but here we can still see some elements of it,” Wang said.
The government has curtailed non-official celebrations, with major cities outlawing the noisy firecrackers that once reverberated around Beijing and left some blocks enshrouded in smoke.
Many Chinese take advantage of the extended holiday to travel in the country and abroad. Ctrip, an online booking agency that operates Trip.com, said the most popular overseas destinations this year are Japan, Thailand, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, the United States, South Korea, Macao and Vietnam.
In Moscow, Russians cheered, waved and took smartphone photos of drummers, costumed dancers and long dragon and snake figures held aloft in a colorful procession that kicked off a 10-day Lunar New Year festival on Tuesday night.
The Chinese and Russian governments have deepened ties since 2022, in part to push back against what they see as U.S. dominance of the world order.
Visitors shouted “Happy New Year” in Russian and expressed delight at being able to experience Chinese food and culture in Moscow, including folk performances and booths selling snacks and artwork.
Cuba’s small Chinese community celebrated the Lunar New Year on Tuesday night with a parade of glowing lanterns and dragons winding their way through the narrow streets of Chinatown.
The island was once home to one of the largest and oldest Chinese communities in the Americas. Now, a much smaller community celebrates major holidays with a Cuban twist, blending rum and cigars with traditional Chinese cuisine.
New York City's Chinatown also plays host to annual festivities celebrating the holiday -- and this year is no different.
On Wednesday, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., the 27th New Year Firecracker Ceremony and Cultural Festival will take place at Sara D. Roosevelt Park (at Chrystie and Grand streets). Additionally, the 27th Annual Chinatown Lunar New Year Parade and Festival is scheduled for Feb. 16 at 1 p.m. with festival booths on Bayard Street (between Mulberry and Mott streets) from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
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Associated Press video journalists Wayne Zhang in Beijing, Alice Fung in Hong Kong and Syawalludin Zain in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, contributed to this story.
