While many cultures all over the world celebrate the Lunar New Year, perhaps some of the most festive and highly-visible celebrations come from East Asian and Southeast Asian communities and diaspora. To honor the moment, we spoke to some contributors and friends of Condé Nast Traveler to check in and learn what Lunar New Year means to them, and how they’re celebrating the incoming Year of the Dragon. Spoiler alert: red envelopes and dumpling parties abound.
If you’re game to fête the Lunar New Year, here’s how you can get involved in various cities across the country, from New York and San Francisco, to Houston and Las Vegas. And if you’re in the mood for gift-giving, we’ve got you covered with this guide (with many recs coming from AAPI-founded brands). No matter how you celebrate, it’s all about looking to the future with clear intention and surrounding yourself with the people you love—or, at the very least, having some auspicious noodles to ensure a long life ahead.
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Throwing a dumpling party for togetherness—and maybe prosperity
“Growing up, Lunar New Year was always primarily an eating marathon, usually at the homes of family friends. Ever since living on my own in New York City, Lunar New Year has always been a fun opportunity to throw a dumpling party, since dumplings are a classic food for the occasion. The shape of a perfectly folded dumpling vaguely resembles a golden ingot, an ancient currency, hence wealth. I don’t know if it brings anyone wealth, but it’s a good way to feed a crowd—and not have to do all the cooking myself. I put out a bowl of pork-and-chive filling and throw a stack of dumpling skins on the table, and everyone gets busy folding them. Some have a brief tutorial. Some people go off and invent their own ways to fold them.
Some years, it’s fun to incorporate the animal year somehow. I remember one time, during the Year of the Ox, we had some cold beef short rib stew leftovers that went into the dumplings. Once they were piping hot, they were soupy and so delicious. For the Year of the Dog, we had dumplings with chopped up hot dogs and sauerkraut—“dog-plings”—with a mustardy dipping sauce. And we invited dogs to that party, too, so there were 12 dogs running around my one-bedroom apartment, trying to eat dumpling scraps.” —Cathy Erway, contributor and author of “How the Scallion Pancake Became the Most Versatile Bread in America”
Passing down traditions to the next generation
“What I love about Lunar New Year is that it’s kind of a long holiday. It’s got events on every day of the week. I grew up in Taiwan, where we’d get at least a full week off to celebrate it. So I’ve always associated it with extended celebrations. And because it’s drawn out, there’s less pressure: You get to see everyone—your family and your friends. There was always a schedule: The first couple of days are very much associated with your direct family; there’s a day associated with going back to your mother’s house and her parents. Then after all that, you’re seeing friends. Traditionally, people tend to go home—or come home—for the Lunar New Year, so, if they lived in Shanghai or Hong Kong or even further away, they might come back to Taipei to celebrate. That was how I got to see a lot of relatives or family friends that I hadn’t seen in a long time.
