5 underrated places to celebrate Lunar New Year

Lunar New Year is the biggest holiday in Asian culture, bringing with it festivals, feasts, and fortune. It’s not a fixed celebration—based on the lunar calendar, the festivities kick off on a different day each year. In 2025, two billion people will mark the Year of the Snake on January 29 in cities around the world.

While epicenters like Shanghai and Taipei showcase jaw-dropping spectacles—weeks of dazzling flower, lantern, and light displays that far outshine December 31st celebrations—we dug into five cities that spotlight Lunar New Year in their own, unique way. Consider the following mini-guides on what to do, what to eat, and where to hop into bed each night this Lunar New Year.

Vancouver and its surroundings have thrived as a hotbed of Chinese culture. Its Chinatown was established over 100 years ago, centered around not one but three Chinese opera theaters. Every year, Lunarfest Vancouver organizes festivities spanning concerts, origami workshops, and artists’ talks.

Come (very) hungry. Start in Vancouver’s Chinatown neighborhood and hit up Blnd Tger Dumplings, a sophisticated speakeasy you'll access by ordering a #7 at the counter. (Be sure to actually order the wild boar wontons and cumin lamb dumplings.) For more traditional dumplings, head to Richmond, about 30 minutes outside of Vancouver. The Dumpling Trail gathers 14 restaurants, including Jade Seafood (a beloved dim sum institution). While you’re there, stop in the International Buddhist Society to see the largest Buddhist statue in North America.

The University of British Columbia’s Botanical Gardens pulls out all the stops with lion dances, sword demos, and workshops where you can learn how to make sweet dumplings. For an afternoon of fresh air, trek to Capilano Suspension State Park where you can cross its seven bridges floating throughout the rainforest.

Right on Coal Harbour is Singaporean-owned Pan Pacific Vancouver, which is always festooned with Lunar New Year decor once the season hits. For a more boutique-y stay, book a room at the Exchange Hotel in the historic Stock Exchange building. For something away from the celebrations (and associated noise), the Loden Hotel can be found in the quieter Coal Harbour neighborhood.

London hosts the largest gathering of Chinese dragons and lions in Europe, with a parade that kicks off at Charing Cross Road and snakes its way to Chinatown. Trafalgar Square also hosts dances and the Lion Eye-Dotting Ceremony, a lively ritual meant to wake the lion up. Look to Leicester Square for family-friendly activities, like calligraphy and “fancy dress” in traditional Asian outfits.

Take a Thames River sightseeing cruise to the Royal Observatory Greenwich for a Chinese astronomy planetarium show. The Chinese calendar is based on the moon, and the observatory delves into ancient and modern Chinese astronomy, exploring the sky and beyond.

Grab a table at Hakkasan (don’t sleep on the XO scallop and prawn shumai or Peking duck with caviar), A.Wong (start with the Shanghai steamed dumplings), and Akira Back (you won’t soon forget the lobster or grilled sea bream).

A stone’s throw away from Buckingham Palace, St. James Court is also home to the House of Ming, which hands out red envelopes with special coupons to guests. Traditionally, red envelopes with lucky money are given out during the Lunar New Year.

Indonesia and its capital, Jakarta, are home to a mix of traditions that play together. The archipelago is home to the fourth-most populous Muslim country in the world so proteins that are often found in Chinese food, such as pork, aren’t typically found in Indonesian dishes. In its place, beef and chicken are common substitutes but you can still find Chinese Indonesian dishes like sate babi (pork satay). For the New Year celebrations, Jakarta's Glodok Chinatown will be festooned with colorful lanterns, firecrackers, and burning paper money.

Take a trip through one of the world’s biggest Chinatowns with a local expert from Smailing Tours, who can guide you to the best shop for souvenirs or traditional Chinese medicine, as well as the best stall for siomay (steamed dumplings). The Dharma Bkakti Temple is one of the oldest Chinese places of worship where locals and visitors can burn incense for their ancestors. Snack on Chinese street food, like lumpia (egg roll) or bakpau (buns with steamed meat or sweet beans), as you roam, and make sure to keep an eye out for the Barongsai lion dances winding their way through the streets.

Clubbing in Jakarta is a big thing. For a night done right, start at Chao Chao, a rooftop Cantonese restaurant helmed by Michelin-recognized chef Tong Chee Hwee. The venue transforms into a nightclub with Instagrammable cocktails, like Hao He, a creamy, fruity bourbon cocktail. Hit Dragonfly Club next, where some of electronic dance music’s biggest stars have taken the stage (The Chainsmokers, Disclosure, and Skrillex, to name a few). Or rave at The H Club, the biggest nightclub in Asia, known for its modern, techno vibe. Make your appearance at midnight when the place is hopping.

For a luxurious treat, the AYANA Midplaza Jakarta has major amenities, an opulent Indonesian wellness retreat, and six restaurants. Completely unwind at the spa with a Tangas Betawi, a traditional massage rooted in Indigenous customs, or a Javanese Lulur, a beauty mask made with Indonesian chocolates. Or, book into Hotel Mulia Senayan, which hosts Chinese string instrument performances for guests, and hampers with yee sang—a colorful salad with raw fish, mango, turnip, pomelo, and vermicelli—are served at New Year’s as a symbol of abundance and unity.

This desert oasis thrives on over-the-top thrills, and come Lunar New Year, almost every venue in Las Vegas is dressed in ornate red lanterns. While a small number of Chinese immigrants first settled in Vegas in the mid-1800s for railroad construction and mining jobs, the real boom has occurred in the last 20 years as the Asian-American population has tripled and continues to grow.

For Lunar New Year, Fashion Show Las Vegas is transformed into an ASMR wonderland with an interactive, musical Chinese lantern display. Snag a red envelope with chocolate coins and a $25 poker chip (if you’re lucky). On February 2, the mall will host a traditional lion dance and lantern festival, along with an opportunity to pose with the God of Good Fortune for a photo.

No doubt that Vegas is a magnet for entertainment. Considered one of the best illusionists in the world, Canadian-American-Singaporean magician Shin Lim has a residency at the Palazzo Theatre. (Nightly shows run Thursday through Monday evening but it’s best to purchase early to pick the best seats.) Afterward, pop into Gatsby’s Cocktail Lounge at Resorts World or the Barbershop Cuts & Cocktails, a speakeasy hidden in The Cosmopolitan for New Year’s cocktails.

Book a gondola ride on the canals or skate at Flipper’s Roller Boogie Palace at the all-suite Venetian Resort. Alternatively at the Bellagio, a Lunar New Year serpentine floral display will take over the 14,000-square-foot Botanical Garden.

In the 1900s, there were more cachanillas (Mexicali residents) of Chinese ancestry than Mexican, leaving an indelible mark on the city. Everyone gathers to watch the Lunar New Year parade, which starts at Jose Maria Morelos Street and ends in front of the Museo Wok, where local martial arts troupes perform lion dances.

Walk through the red ornate arches and you’ll find yourself in the La Chinesca neighborhood. I recommend the Orígenes y Secretos de La Chinesca Tour, which brings guests into the underground tunnels where hundreds of Chinese laborers lived in bunks, etching Chinese characters on the walls.

There are 350 Chinese restaurants in this small city, nearly enough for a different dinner every night of the year. The Asian restaurants have adjusted to local preferences, such as cooking with Mexican skirt steak, typically used in carne asada, instead of the flank steak traditionally used in Chinese wok-fried dishes. For the best of the best, try the carne arrachera en salsa frijol (Mexican skirt steak in black bean sauce) at Dragon Chinese or dine on dim sum de arroz y setas (dumplings with rice and mushrooms) at Restaurant Imperial Garden.

The Hotel Lucerna Mexicali embodies a resort vibe with bungalow rooms centered around a pool—perfect for a morning coffee and a dip before the festivities. Bonus: the on-site Acueducto Grill & Bar is where Clamato, the mix of clam juice and tomato juice, was first concocted.