Hundreds of millions of people across Asia will gather with their families on Wednesday to celebrate the Lunar New Year, marking the transition from the Year of the Dragon to the Year of the Snake.
In China, citizens will enjoy eight consecutive days of public holidays for the 2025 Spring Festival, a time to share festive meals, attend traditional performances, and ignite firecrackers and fireworks.
For weeks, train stations and airports across the country have been packed as millions make their way home in an annual migration expected to set a new record.
Throughout East and Southeast Asia—including South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Thailand—high streets, shopping malls, offices, and homes are adorned with festive red banners, believed to ward off evil spirits.
“When a new year comes around, I think most people wish for wealth, a smooth career, and family happiness,” said Yang Longhua, a catering company manager, while standing by a frozen lake in Beijing where people were ice skating this week.
“In previous years, we were locked down because of the pandemic, so I want to take advantage of this long holiday to experience China—a better, more beautiful China,” added the 26-year-old from Zhoukou, Henan province.
During the traditional 40-day travel period surrounding the Lunar New Year, an estimated nine billion interprovincial passenger trips will be made across all modes of transport, according to state news agency Xinhua.
Both train and air travel are expected to reach record highs, with the transport ministry predicting 510 million train trips and 90 million air trips during this period.
Overall, the number of trips is projected to hit nine billion, based on government estimates.
China New Year (Photo: AFP)
On January 27, 2025—the 14th day of the Spring Festival travel rush and the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month—total cross-regional population movement was recorded at 258.8 million, reflecting a 2.6% decline from the previous month and a 4.4% decrease compared to the same period in 2024.
In Shanghai, Ming Dong visited the popular Yu Garden lantern festival to welcome the Year of the Snake, which symbolizes wisdom and vitality in Chinese culture. She expressed her hopes for “good health and good work” in the coming year.
“This place has a strong New Year atmosphere, so I came here to take a stroll. It really feels like a proper Chinese celebration,” said the 30-year-old.
Meanwhile, in South Korea, heavy snowfall caused significant disruptions to train, plane, and bus schedules nationwide as people traveled to visit their families in the countryside.
At Seoul’s main train station, passengers were seen carrying gifts wrapped in colorful cloth and luggage as they prepared to leave the capital.
Images showed vehicles trapped under thick layers of snow along South Korea’s major highways as heavy winds and snowfall continued.
Traffic authorities warned that travel times from Seoul to the southern port city of Busan—normally a four-hour drive—could take more than seven hours on Tuesday due to the harsh weather conditions.
Many opted to spend the holiday overseas instead. Incheon International Airport, the country’s main air hub, estimated that more than 2.1 million passengers—an average of 214,000 per day—would travel abroad between January 24 and February 2.
“This is projected to be the highest average daily passenger count during the Lunar New Year holiday since the airport’s opening in 2001,” the airport operator said in a statement.
Even space joined in on the celebrations, as Chinese astronauts Cai Xuzhe, Song Lingdong, and Wang Haoze sent their Lunar New Year greetings from the Tiangong space station on Tuesday.
In a video released by the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA), the three astronauts appeared in blue jumpsuits featuring traditional red cloud patterns while holding paper-cut decorations with the Chinese character “fu,” symbolizing good fortune.
“In the new year, may all your dreams come true,” said Wang, forming a heart shape above her head.
