Short answer
Chinese New Year's Day 2026 is Tuesday 17 February, opening the Year of the Horse, and the official public holiday runs 15–23 February 2026 — nine days, the longest Spring Festival break on record, with 14 and 28 February worked as make-up Saturdays. In 2027, New Year's Day is Saturday 6 February, the Year of the Goat.
The disruption is real but narrower than most guides claim. Malls, chains, hotels, airports, trains and major attractions keep running. What disappears is small: family restaurants, neighbourhood shops, some services, and any hope of a cheap domestic flight. The bigger issue is volume — this is the largest annual movement of people in the world.
Go for the festival, not for the sights. Temple fairs, lantern displays and family meals are worth planning a trip around. If what you actually want is the Forbidden City with breathing room, come in the quiet days after the holiday ends, when hotel rates drop and the crowds thin out.
The dates that matter
The lunar calendar moves, so check the year you are travelling. These are the fixed points.
| What | 2026 | 2027 |
|---|---|---|
| New Year's Eve | Monday 16 February | Friday 5 February |
| New Year's Day (1st lunar day) | Tuesday 17 February — Year of the Horse | Saturday 6 February — Year of the Goat |
| Official public holiday | Sunday 15 to Monday 23 February — 9 days, confirmed by the State Council | Published in the preceding November; treat any figure you see now as provisional |
| Make-up working days | Saturday 14 February and Saturday 28 February | Set with the official notice |
| Travel rush (chunyun) | Roughly forty days, from about two weeks before New Year's Eve | Same structure, shifted to early February |
| Lantern Festival (ends the season) | Tuesday 3 March | Saturday 20 February |
What closes, and what keeps running
Tourists usually brace for a locked-down country and then find the opposite. The closures are concentrated in small businesses and services.
| Stays open | Often closes |
|---|---|
| Airports, high-speed rail, metros, taxis | Some private factories, workshops and delivery services for one to two weeks |
| Hotels, shopping malls, chains, supermarkets, convenience stores, coffee chains | Family-run restaurants and neighbourhood noodle shops, often for a week or more |
| Major attractions, with holiday hours and timed entry | A handful of museums, which take a day or two off around the festival |
| Hospital emergency services | Routine clinics, salons, small repair shops, some banks |
In Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou you will notice the city getting quieter in the week before New Year's Day, then refilling. In a county town in Henan or Sichuan, the opposite: everything local shuts, the streets fill with returning families and the restaurants that stay open are full.
Firecracker rules are set city by city and revised year to year. Some large cities restrict private use and run official displays instead; smaller towns are louder. Check the local notice for wherever you are staying. Our guide to Chinese festivals covers what the celebrations actually look like.
What surges, in order of annoyance
- Intercity transport. Flights and high-speed rail on the main corridors sell out, and the pre-sale window is limited. The worst days to move are the two or three before New Year's Eve and the last two days of the official holiday.
- Hotel rates in holiday cities. Resort and scenic destinations charge holiday pricing and fill with domestic families. First-tier business cities move the other way and often discount.
- Scenic-area capacity. Major sights switch to advance timed booking and stop selling at the gate. Turning up on the day during the holiday is a wasted morning.
- Temple fairs and lantern displays. Expect metal detectors, one-way walking routes and queues at the famous ones in Beijing and Shanghai. They are still the best thing about the festival.
- Restaurant tables. Reunion dinners fill restaurants days ahead. If a particular place matters to you, reserve before you fly.
The general pattern is covered in more depth in Chinese holidays and crowds, which maps all seven public holidays against each other.
Weather in February
Spring Festival is a winter festival. What that means depends entirely on where you are standing.
| Place | Typical February feel | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Beijing | Around or just below freezing, dry, often clear | Great light, short days; the Wall is cold and windy |
| Harbin | Deep winter, well below −20 °C at night | Ice and snow festival season; serious layering required |
| Shanghai, Hangzhou | Cold and damp, a few degrees above freezing | The dampness does more damage than the temperature |
| Chengdu, Chongqing | Cool, grey, humid | Little wind, little sun, excellent food |
| Guangzhou, Hong Kong | Mild, jacket weather | Comfortable for walking; flower markets are the local ritual |
| Sanya, Hainan | Warm enough to swim | The domestic holiday destination, with domestic holiday prices |
| Yunnan (Kunming, Dali) | Mild, sunny days, cold nights | Best cold-season combination of light and comfort |
Is the atmosphere worth the disruption?
Yes, if the festival is the point of the trip. No, if it is a sightseeing trip that happens to land in February.
What you gain: temple fairs with acrobats and sugar-figure stalls, lantern displays, red lanterns on every doorframe, and a city full of families who are genuinely off work. Red packets, reunion dinners, the noise of a small town at midnight.
What you lose: frictionless trains, quiet museums, cheap domestic flights and predictable restaurant hours. Those who arrive expecting a normal week of sightseeing are the ones who complain about it.
Booking timeline
- Four to six months outDecide the cities and check that your dates do not put a transfer on the two or three days before New Year's Eve. That is the single worst window to move.
- As early as the rolling pre-sale allowsBook long-distance high-speed rail through the official 12306 channel with your passport. Holiday services sell out quickly; set a reminder for the release.
- Same day, book the flightsDomestic fares climb steeply inside two weeks of departure and holiday-window seats are gone earlier. If a route is full, reroute through a bigger hub rather than waiting for a cancellation.
- Before you flySet up payment, a working SIM or roaming plan and a translation app — see the before you fly checklist for the install order. Small shops that stay open during the festival may not take foreign cards.
- One to two weeks outBook timed entry for every major sight you plan to visit during the holiday window. Gate sales are not reliable then.
- On arrivalAsk your hotel which nearby restaurants are open through the festival. Staff know the local map of closures better than any guide does.
Frequently asked questions
What are the Chinese New Year dates for 2026?
Chinese New Year's Day 2026 falls on Tuesday 17 February, with New Year's Eve on Monday 16 February, opening the Year of the Horse. The official public holiday runs from Sunday 15 February to Monday 23 February 2026, nine days, with Saturday 14 February and Saturday 28 February designated as make-up working days.
What are the Chinese New Year dates for 2027?
Chinese New Year's Day 2027 falls on Saturday 6 February 2027, starting the Year of the Goat, with the Lantern Festival closing the season on 20 February 2027. The exact public holiday window is normally published by the State Council in the preceding November, so check the official release before locking in flights.
Will restaurants and shops be closed during Spring Festival?
Some will. Family-run restaurants, neighbourhood noodle shops and small workshops commonly close for a week or longer, and in big cities a visible share of street food disappears. Chain restaurants, shopping malls, hotel restaurants, convenience stores, supermarkets and chain coffee shops stay open, though some run shorter hours on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.
Is Chinese New Year a good time to visit China?
It is a good time to see the festival and a bad time to move around. Intercity transport is at its busiest of the year, major sights need advance timed booking and still feel full, and some independent businesses shut. If you want quiet cities without missing the festival, travel in the days after the official holiday ends, when hotel rates fall and crowds disperse.
Do trains and flights really sell out?
Yes, and faster than you expect. Spring Festival sets off the largest annual movement of people in the world over a rush that lasts roughly forty days, from about two weeks before New Year's Eve to about three weeks after. High-speed rail tickets are released on a limited rolling pre-sale window and holiday services are gone quickly. Book the moment your dates are fixed and keep a second route in mind.
Which cities are cheapest during the holiday?
Big business cities empty out as migrant workers travel home, so Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen hotels often discount and the streets are unusually calm. Tourist cities move the other way: resort and scenic destinations fill with domestic holidaymakers and charge accordingly. The cheapest holiday trip is usually a first-tier city, not a resort.
Is everything closed on New Year's Day itself?
Not everything, but more than on other days. Many independent shops stay shut on New Year's Day, and a few museums take one or two days off around the festival. Major attractions generally stay open, often with holiday hours, holiday pricing and mandatory advance timed entry rather than gate sales.
When is the Lantern Festival?
The Lantern Festival falls on the 15th night of the first lunar month: 3 March 2026 and 20 February 2027. It is not a public holiday, so offices and schools work the next morning, and the big lantern displays usually run for several weeks around it rather than for one night only.
Will I see fireworks?
Sometimes, and not where you expect. Firework and firecracker rules are set city by city and change year to year, with most large cities restricting private use and designating official display sites or banning them outright, while smaller towns are often louder. Check local notices for the city you are in.
Related reading
If the festival is your reason for coming, pair this with the holiday crowd calendar before you fix dates, and read the arrival planning in before you fly early — SIM, payment and booking apps are all easier to set up before you are standing in a queue at a temple fair.
Compiled from the General Office of the State Council 2026 public holiday notice as published by government and municipal sources, the 2026 lunar calendar dates for the Spring Festival and Lantern Festival, and traveller reports on closures and crowd levels, cross-checked 30 September 2026. The 2027 holiday window is not yet final, and city-level firework, museum and timed-entry rules change every year — the official notice and the attraction's own channel are the authoritative version.