Chinese New Year 2028

What this countdown tracks

Chinese New Year 2028 falls on Wednesday January 26, 2028, marking the start of the Year of the Earth Monkey – an early Chinese New Year, with the festival pulled into the last week of January. The fifteen-day Spring Festival runs through Tuesday February 8, 2028 (the closing Lantern Festival).

About Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year, also called the Spring Festival (Chunjie) in mainland China, is the most important annual festival across the Chinese cultural sphere – mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macau, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the global Chinese diaspora estimated at over 50 million people. Vietnamese Tết, Korean Seollal, and Mongolian Tsagaan Sar typically coincide (or fall close), giving the Lunar New Year an East Asian reach of well over 1.5 billion celebrants. The chunyun travel rush around Spring Festival is the world's largest annual human migration; China's transport ministry has counted over 9 billion passenger trips in the 40-day window in recent years.

The festival is at least 3,000 years old, with origins in agricultural rituals and ancestral worship dating to the Shang dynasty. Many of its central customs – the family reunion dinner on New Year's Eve, red couplets at doorways, firecrackers to scare away the mythical Nian beast, red envelopes of money for children, and the fifteen-day arc culminating in the Lantern Festival – are documented in Chinese sources from at least the Tang and Song dynasties (roughly the 7th to 13th centuries CE).

The 12-year zodiac cycle (rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog, pig) and the 5-element cycle (wood, fire, earth, metal, water) combine to give each year a unique sixty-year sexagenary designation. 2028 is Wu Shen, the Year of the Earth Monkey – associated in Chinese astrological tradition with practical intelligence, social cleverness, and a steadier, more patient temperament than the preceding fire-element years.

How it's observed

Spring Festival opens on New Year's Eve (Chuxi) – January 25, 2028 – with the family reunion dinner (nianyefan), the year's most important meal. Multi-generational families gather across long distances; the table groans with auspicious dishes – whole fish for surplus, jiaozi dumplings for wealth, niangao rice cake for advancement, long noodles for long life. After dinner, families stay up late for shousui (the watching of the night), traditionally to ward off evil and bring long life to one's parents; in modern China, this means watching the CCTV New Year Gala (Chunwan), which regularly draws over 1 billion viewers and is the world's most-watched television broadcast.

At midnight, fireworks erupt across cities – though most major mainland Chinese cities now restrict fireworks within urban limits because of air-quality concerns; Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou maintain firework bans within the city core. New Year's Day (January 26) is for visiting paternal relatives, giving red envelopes (hongbao) of cash to children, and (in some traditions) abstaining from cleaning, scissors, and breaking objects so as not to "cut" the year's luck.

The fifteen days follow a structured arc. Day 2 is for visiting the wife's family. Day 5 (Powu) breaks earlier taboos and is the day to welcome the God of Wealth (Caishen). Day 7 is Renri (people's day), when everyone ages by one. Day 9 is the Jade Emperor's birthday, particularly celebrated in Hokkien Chinese communities in Singapore, Malaysia, and Penang. Day 15 closes the festival with the Lantern Festival (Yuanxiao) – tangyuan (sweet glutinous rice balls in syrup) are eaten, lanterns are lit and floated, dragon and lion dances move through the streets, and lantern riddles are solved at temple displays.

The Lion Dance, performed by costumed dancers under a lion mask with two dancers (head and tail), is a Spring Festival staple in Chinatowns worldwide; the Dragon Dance, with up to thirty performers under a long flexible dragon, is reserved for major civic events.

Why this date specifically

Chinese New Year falls on the first day of the first lunar month – the day of the new moon closest to the start of spring (lichun, around February 4). The Chinese lunar calendar uses China Standard Time (UTC+8) for new-moon calculations. In 2028, the new moon falls on January 26, making it the earliest Chinese New Year of this decade. The festival can fall as early as January 21 and as late as February 20 across years; it fell on January 29 in 2025, February 17 in 2026, February 6 in 2027, and now January 26 in 2028. Vietnamese Tết and Korean Seollal in 2028 also fall on January 26.

What to watch for / notable observances in 2028

• January 25, evening – nianyefan reunion dinner; CCTV Spring Festival Gala broadcasts globally
• January 26 – first day of the Year of the Earth Monkey; fireworks at midnight; lion-dance troupes
• January 27 – Day 2; married daughters return to parental home with husbands
• January 30 – Day 5; welcoming of the God of Wealth
• February 3 – Day 9; Jade Emperor's birthday, especially in Hokkien communities
• February 8 – Day 15; Lantern Festival; tangyuan eaten; lantern displays in parks worldwide
• Public holiday: 7 days in mainland China; 3 days in Hong Kong; up to 7 days in Taiwan; 2 days each in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines
• chunyun travel rush: peak around January 22–February 1
• Major Chinese New Year parades in San Francisco, New York, London, Sydney, Vancouver, Melbourne

Related festivals to track

Chinese New Year 2028 is followed in the Chinese calendar by Qingming (April 4, 2028), the Dragon Boat Festival, and the Mid-Autumn Festival in autumn. Vietnamese Tết and Korean Seollal coincide on January 26, 2028. The family overview is at the Chinese festival hub. For comparable lunisolar-calendar new years in other traditions, see Rosh Hashanah 2028 and the Hindu Ugadi.

FAQ

When is Chinese New Year in 2028? Wednesday January 26, 2028 – the start of the Year of the Earth Monkey.

How is Chinese New Year observed? Through the family reunion dinner on New Year's Eve, fireworks at midnight, red envelopes for children, family visits, lion and dragon dances, and the closing Lantern Festival on Day 15.

Is Chinese New Year a public holiday? Yes – seven days in mainland China; three days in Hong Kong; up to seven in Taiwan; two days each in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines.

What is the typical greeting? "Xin Nian Kuai Le" (新年快乐) in Mandarin; "San Nin Faai Lok" in Cantonese; "Gong Xi Fa Cai" (恭喜发财) for the wish of prosperity.