新年快乐
xīn nián kuài lè
Happy New Year
The all-purpose greeting. Works for the lunar new year and for January 1 alike.
Lunar New Year · 春节
Spring Festival (春节) is the biggest holiday of the Chinese year — weeks of family, food, and red paper. These are the words you’ll see and hear across the season, from the greetings people say at the door to the dishes on the reunion table and the traditions behind them.
37 essential terms · reviewed pinyin and audio on every one · grouped by where you’ll meet them.
You don’t need many words to take part. Open with 新年快乐 (xīn nián kuài lè, “Happy New Year”) for anyone, and 恭喜发财 (gōng xǐ fā cái, “may you prosper”) when money or business is in the air. To elders, a health wish comes first.
The quiet logic of the whole holiday is homophones: the lucky foods and customs below are lucky because they sound like something good. Each term has its meaning and, where there is one, the pun that earns it a place. Tap the audio to hear it said aloud.
The lines you say and hear all season — on the phone, at the door, and printed on every red banner. Four-character wishes are the currency of the holiday; string a few together and you sound like a native.
新年快乐
xīn nián kuài lè
Happy New Year
The all-purpose greeting. Works for the lunar new year and for January 1 alike.
春节快乐
chūn jié kuài lè
Happy Spring Festival
Specific to the lunar festival (春节) — the more in-the-know version of the greeting above.
恭喜发财
gōng xǐ fā cái
Wishing you wealth and prosperity
The classic. In Cantonese this is the famous “gung hei fat choi,” and it is often the cue for a red packet.
恭喜
gōng xǐ
congratulations
The everyday half of 恭喜发财. You will hear it doubled up as 恭喜恭喜.
万事如意
wàn shì rú yì
may all your wishes come true
Literally “ten-thousand things as you wish.” A staple on cards and door couplets.
心想事成
xīn xiǎng shì chéng
may your heart’s wishes come true
Pairs naturally right after 万事如意 for a fuller blessing.
身体健康
shēn tǐ jiàn kāng
(wishing you) good health
The wish you give to elders and parents first of all.
年年有余
nián nián yǒu yú
may you have surplus year after year
余 (surplus) sounds like 鱼 (fish) — which is why a whole fish sits on the table.
步步高升
bù bù gāo shēng
may you rise higher step by step
A career wish. 年糕 (nián gāo) puns on 高 “high” for the same reason.
大吉大利
dà jí dà lì
great luck and great profit
Big, bold good fortune — the kind you wish someone for the whole year ahead.
拜年
bài nián
to pay New Year visits
What you do in the first days: call on relatives and friends and say the lines above.
红包
hóng bāo
red packet / red envelope
Cash in a red envelope, given by married adults to children and juniors. Now also digital, on WeChat.
压岁钱
yā suì qián
children’s New Year money
The money inside the 红包 — literally “money to suppress the year,” to keep a child safe.
Almost every New Year dish earns its place by sounding like something lucky. Learn the pun and the food explains itself.
饺子
jiǎo zi
dumplings
Shaped like old silver ingots. Eaten in the north, often at midnight on New Year’s Eve.
鱼
yú
fish
Served whole and deliberately not finished, so there is 年年有余 — “surplus every year.”
年糕
nián gāo
sticky rice cake
糕 sounds like 高 “tall,” so eating it means rising higher each year.
汤圆
tāng yuán
glutinous rice balls
Round for 团圆 (reunion). Eaten especially at the lantern festival that closes the season.
春卷
chūn juǎn
spring rolls
Fried golden, they look like little bars of gold — and “spring” is the 春 of 春节.
长寿面
cháng shòu miàn
longevity noodles
One long, unbroken noodle for a long life. Don’t cut it.
橘子
jú zi
tangerines
橘 puns on 吉 “luck,” and the gold color reads as wealth. Given and displayed in pairs.
瓜子
guā zǐ
melon seeds
The default snack while chatting and playing cards through the long holiday afternoons.
糖果
táng guǒ
sweets; candy
For a sweet year. A candy tray greets guests at the door.
The season has its own scenery — red paper, lanterns, lion dancers, and a lot of noise. Here is what all of it is called and why it’s there.
春节
chūn jié
Spring Festival
The holiday’s real name in Chinese, and the biggest event of the year.
除夕
chú xī
New Year’s Eve
The last night of the old year, when the whole family gathers.
团圆饭
tuán yuán fàn
reunion dinner
The New Year’s Eve feast, also called 年夜饭 (nián yè fàn). Everyone comes home for it.
守岁
shǒu suì
staying up New Year’s Eve
Staying awake late to “guard the year” as it turns — a wish for long life for one’s parents.
春联
chūn lián
Spring Festival couplets
Red paper strips of matched good wishes, pasted down both sides of the door. A kind of 对联 (duì lián).
福字
fú zì
the 福 (fortune) character
Pasted on doors — often upside down, because 福倒了 (“fortune upside-down”) sounds like 福到了 (“fortune has arrived”).
灯笼
dēng long
lantern
Red lanterns hung everywhere; the season ends with a whole lantern festival, 元宵节.
鞭炮
biān pào
firecrackers
Strings of them, set off to drive away bad luck and the beast 年兽.
烟花
yān huā
fireworks
The big night-sky display, loudest at the stroke of midnight.
舞龙
wǔ lóng
dragon dance
A team carries a long dragon on poles, weaving it through the crowd.
舞狮
wǔ shī
lion dance
Two dancers share one lion costume, to drums, reaching for a head of lettuce hung for luck.
年兽
nián shòu
the Nian beast
The monster the festival scares off. It fears red, light, and loud noise — which is why there is so much of all three.
大扫除
dà sǎo chú
a big pre-New-Year clean
Sweep out the old year’s dust and bad luck before the day — but never sweep on New Year’s Day itself.
Every lunar year belongs to one of twelve animals. Knowing yours — and the year’s — is the small talk the season runs on.
生肖
shēng xiào
Chinese zodiac (animal signs)
The twelve-animal cycle: 鼠牛虎兔龙蛇马羊猴鸡狗猪, one per year, repeating every twelve years.
属相
shǔ xiang
one’s own zodiac animal
The colloquial word for your sign. 你属什么？ — “What animal are you?”
The year ahead
Chinese New Year 2027 begins the Year of the 羊 — the Goat.
The new year arrives on February 6, 2027, handing the cycle from the Horse to the Goat (羊, yáng — also called the Sheep). Every one of the twelve animals carries its own traits, lucky colors, and best matches.
Turn this list into a deck and drill it with spaced repetition built on FSRS — with native-quality audio for every term, so the greetings are ready when you need them.