Hundreds of millions of people around the world are celebrating the Lunar New Year. They’re welcoming in the Year of the Horse. Rob McBride reports from the Temple of Earth in Beijing, on the first day of the Chinese New Year.
Published On 17 Feb 202617 Feb 2026
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About 1.4 billion people began marking the Lunar New Year on Tuesday amid fireworks as China enters the Year of the Fire Horse, one of 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac.
Known as the Spring Festival in China, the new year, based on the lunar calendar, also brings about the world’s largest annual human migration, called Chunyun, as millions travel across the country for family reunions.
It is also a huge opportunity to boost domestic consumption in the world’s second-largest economy, which has been driven by exports.
Monday night’s gala, one of the largest state-sponsored televised events, was marked by a stunningly synchronised kung fu performance by robots and children.
The Year of the Horse, said to bring optimism and opportunity, is following the Year of the Snake, which represented transformation and strategy.
Here is a quick snapshot of the festival.
It is the most important holiday in China and is celebrated by millions of people in the country and in East and Southeast Asia.
In the days leading up to it, people clean their homes and decorate with red lanterns, couplets, and paper cuttings that represent prosperity and good fortune.
On the eve of the Lunar New Year, families gather for a large reunion dinner, exchanging hongbao, red envelopes of cash as a symbol of blessings and good fortune.
The celebrations usually last about 15 days, ending with the Lantern Festival. Fireworks, dragon and lion dances, temple fairs across big cities and the hinterland are common during this period.
In the Chinese zodiac, each year is associated with one of the 12 zodiac animals, which is believed to influence the year’s character and fortune.
The animal from the Chinese zodiac is then paired with any one of the five elements: metal, wood, water, fire and earth.
This is the Year of the Fire Horse.
This year’s official holiday is nine days, rather than the typical eight, with New Year’s Day falling on Tuesday, February 17.
The Chinese zodiac system is incredibly complex, repeating every 12 years, each represented by an animal in this order: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog and pig.
The year of one’s birth decides their zodiac sign; meaning, the ones born last year were Snakes, this year’s children would be Horses and next year’s would be Goats.
A complex mechanism decides how the year will be paired with one of the five elements.
This year, the element is Bing, or big sun, paired with the Horse. This pairing occurs every 60 years, most recently in 1966.
For those who believe in the Chinese zodiac, the Year of the Fire Horse represents an explosion of energy and independence, with unpredictable realignments.
The Spring Festival in China is not just cultural but also economically significant, typically driving a spike in consumption across multiple sectors.
People spend heavily on food and festive goods, entertainment, and tourism, with retail and e-commerce platforms registering a surge in sales during the pre-holiday period.
The Chinese government is also expecting a record 9.5 billion passenger trips during the 40-day Spring Festival period, up from nine billion trips last year, as they travel for annual reunions.
The government has also issued consumer vouchers worth more than 360 million yuan ($52m) this month to boost consumption.
China is looking to boost domestic spending in its next five-year economic plan, where households save nearly a third of their income.
It is a global phenomenon extending beyond China. In East and Southeast Asia, several countries observe the Lunar New Year under distinct cultural pretexts.
For instance, Vietnam celebrates Tet Nguyen Dan, which emphasises family reunions and specific culinary traditions like banh chung. In South Korea, Seollal, or the Korean New Year, focuses on honouring ancestors and the consumption of tteokguk, a rice cake soup believed to grant people another year of age.
In Southeast Asian countries like Singapore and Malaysia, the holiday is a multicultural event marked by public holidays.
Diaspora communities in cities like San Francisco, London, and Sydney also host some of the largest celebrations in the world, featuring massive parades, dragon boat races and fireworks.
This Lunar New Year found its mascot in a rather unusual place: in the World of Harry Potter, a wildly popular British production. And that too in the franchise’s most popular villain, Draco Malfoy.
In Mandarin, the name Malfoy is written phonetically as “ma er fu”. The opening character, ma, signifies “horse” and the closing character, fu, represents “fortune” or “blessing”.
An AI-generated image used in a graphic by the National Fire Agency warns of food-related choking risk over the Lunar New Year holiday. Graphic by Asia Today and translated by UPI
Feb. 11 (Asia Today) — South Korea’s National Fire Agency warned that choking incidents involving rice cakes and other foods tend to spike around major holidays, with older adults accounting for most victims.
A Seoul resident in his 60s recalled nearly choking while eating tteokguk, a traditional Lunar New Year soup, after a piece of rice cake lodged in his throat. He said he now cuts rice cakes into smaller pieces and eats more slowly.
The fire agency said an analysis of rescue statistics from 2021 through 2025 found an annual average of 239 people were transported to hospitals for airway obstruction caused by rice cakes or other foods.
During the same period, authorities recorded 1,487 related emergency responses and 1,196 hospital transports. Of those taken to hospitals, 455 people, or 38.1%, were in cardiac arrest, the agency said. Another 741 people, or 61.9%, were reported as injured, underscoring that choking can become life-threatening.
During the Lunar New Year holiday period over the past five years, 31 people were transported for choking incidents involving rice cakes or food, averaging 1.3 people per day.
Older adults made up nearly all of those cases. Among the 31 patients transported during the holiday period, 29 were ages 60 or older, or 96.7%, the agency said, citing factors such as increased meal frequency and faster eating during holiday gatherings.
Officials also pointed to age-related declines in chewing strength and swallowing function, warning that tough or sticky foods such as rice cakes can more easily block the airway when eaten quickly.
The agency urged families to watch elderly relatives during meals, particularly when they are eating alone, and encouraged the public to learn the Heimlich maneuver and use it immediately if someone shows signs of choking or breathing difficulty.
A fire official in Gyeonggi Province said most holiday choking transports involve seniors and can quickly lead to cardiac arrest if breathing is blocked.
Acting Fire Service Commissioner Kim Seung-ryong urged people not to eat too quickly or overeat during the holiday period and asked family members to closely monitor elderly relatives while they eat.
— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI
© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.
Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260202010000583
Across East and Southeast Asia, and throughout diaspora communities in Los Angeles, Lunar New Year marks a season of renewal. It’s a time of deep reflection and collective gathering, as homes are refreshed, elders are honored and streets fill with lion and dragon dances.
Food is central to the celebrations, with dishes chosen as much for what they represent — abundance, unity and good fortune in the year ahead — as for how they taste.
This year ushers in the Year of the Horse — and not just any Horse, but the Fire Horse, a particularly dynamic pairing in the lunar calendar. The timing couldn’t be better. The horse is traditionally associated with energy, momentum and reinvention, and when paired with the fire element, which amplifies passion and action, this year speaks to our desire to move, create and reclaim a sense of possibility — even in the wake of devastating wildfires, immigration raids and widespread uncertainty.
While Lunar New Year officially kicks off on Feb. 17, celebrations in Los Angeles will take place all month and into the next, with banquet-style feasts, limited-time collaborations and cultural performances. Whether you’re seeking a symbolic meal or a lively street celebration, here are 25 festive ways to ring in Lunar New Year across L.A.