Chun Jie (Spring Festival) – Chinese New Year

 Holiday Schedule

Please take note that our Chinese colleagues will be observing the Chinese New Year as a company holiday, and as a result, there will be changes in our operations during this period:

  • Our purchase team will not be available from February 7 to February 19, and purchases may stop a few days earlier. Therefore, it is necessary that all deliveries reach our warehouse no later than February 6. The team will resume work on February 20;
  • Our logistic team will be unavailable from February 6 (after 2:00 PM China local time) to February 17. Express delivery through courier services, such as DHL, FedEx, UPS, etc., for parcels sent via Hong Kong may not be available from February 4, depending on the delivery companies’ performance in Hong Kong. For urgent orders, we require that items reach our warehouse by February 1. Shipping will resume on February 18.

Please plan your orders accordingly, and if you have any concerns or inquiries, do not hesitate to contact us.

All orders placed during the holiday will be processed as soon as possible once we are back from the holiday. Orders will be purchased in order of payment received.

Our support team operates during reduced hours to help with all your inquiries.

Chinese New Year: 8 Fun Facts

The Chinese take great pride in celebrating cultures and traditions. One of the most important Chinese holidays is the Chinese New Year, also known as the Spring Festival. For centuries, Chinese people have carried on many fascinating traditions and customs. The Parcel Up team has gathered eight of the most striking and interesting facts about the Chinese New Year celebration.

Happy Chinese New Year
  1. The date always differs!

The date of the Chinese New Year changes yearly. As the lunar calendar defines, the lunar New Year usually falls between January 21 and February 20. In 2024, the Chinese New Year will come on February 10.

  1. New Year — the beginning of a new Chinese zodiac sign. 

2024 is the year of the Dragon — the Wood Dragon.
Understanding the importance of every Lunar New Year involves acknowledging the characteristics of both the element and the animal.

In the context of Chinese New Year 2024, where wood is the element, we celebrate concepts like growth, success, and the early phases of development.
Wood symbolizes humanity’s desire to achieve, progress, grow, and expand. The Year of the Dragon signifies health, strength, and good fortune. Individuals born in this year are thought to possess dragon-like qualities, including natural leadership, charisma, and limitless enthusiasm.

2024 is predicted to be a great year to start new projects, explore new opportunities, and create value for yourself and others.

You can read more about what to expect in 2024 here.

  1. Chinese New Year preparations.

The days before the Lunar New Year celebration are filled with special traditional activities. One of the most significant events is spring cleaning at home. It is believed that cleaning sweeps up all the failures of this year and prepares the house for new good luck. It is also expected to pay all debts for the year before New Year’s Eve.

People try to make amends to others, make peace, and renew old relations. It is also widespread for the Chinese to buy new clothes and decorate their homes in preparation for the New Year.

  1. New Year’s Eve.

All family members are coming home at this festive time. This is especially important for those whose family members have moved out and live separately, as it keeps the family bonds alive. The New Year’s Eve dinner is essential for the Chinese. The celebratory dinner usually includes fish or dumplings because these two dishes symbolize prosperity. Most Chinese people have New Year’s Eve dinner at home, not in restaurants.

At midnight, the arrival of the New Year, fireworks are launched, symbolizing the onset of the New Year and the expulsion of evil. It is believed that people who start New Year’s fireworks will have good luck in the coming year.

Chinese New Year food feast
  1. People exchange billions of red envelopes.

Traditionally, the older generation presents red envelopes/red pockets with money to the younger and bosses to their subordinates, as New Year wishes to bring good luck and wealth. The sum of money should be even (the numbers 6 and 8 are considered especially lucky), and the banknotes are preferred to be freshly printed since everything should be new for the New Year.

In addition to red envelopes, it is customary to give small gifts like fruits (usually oranges, which symbolize good luck, or apples for a safe and smooth life, but definitely not pears as they sound phonetically close to separation in Chinese), pies, biscuits, chocolates, sweets and many more.

  1. The New Year holidays in China are called the “Spring Festival”.

Although the Chinese New Year is celebrated in winter, the Chinese call it “Spring Festival” (春节 chūnjié). It is because the Lunar New Year is often close to the “beginning of spring” (立春), and people are prepared to say goodbye to the cold winter and welcome the vivid spring where new lives thrive. Hence, the Spring Festival represents the Chinese people’s good wishes for the beginning of a new year. The festival usually refers to the period when winter will end soon, giving way to the warm and beautiful spring.

  1. Chinese New Year is a holiday for one-third of the Earth’s population.

In China, Hong Kong, Macau, and nine other Asian countries, New Year means a week of vacation, similar to that in Western countries, the period between Christmas and New Year. Schools and universities are closed for about a month. Nowadays, this time in China is also the peak of the tourist season. Statistics show that about 3.5 billion trips were made in China during this period. 

  1. Chinese Lantern Festival concludes 16-day celebrations.

The first full moon is celebrated on the 15th day of the New Year. This is the First Full Moon Festival, also known as the Lantern Festival.

In the evening, families get together and have dinner, and then go out to the street to admire the fireworks and Chinese lanterns. Lanterns are hung as decorations, launched into the sky, or sent to flow along the river.

Lantern Festival

“Happy New Year” in Chinese.

新年快乐! (Xin Nian Kuai Le!) Happy New Year! Now you know how to make New Year wishes in Chinese!

May an incredible year of Wood Dragon reward all your efforts and make all your dreams come true! We also would like to thank our Chinese colleagues for their year-round handwork and wish them and everyone warmth, pleasure, and sincere happiness for the New Year!

新春大吉!恭喜发财! (xin chun da ji!gong xi fa cai!)

Happy New Year! Good luck and good fortune!

Thank you for being with us!

Parcel Up Team.