Chinese New Year: a journey to the heart of tradition
Every year, Chinese New Year is celebrated with passion around the world, marking the arrival of a Lunar New Year full of hope and prosperity. At Vanessa Wu, this celebration is an opportunity to highlight the Wu family's origins, and offer a special operation to mark the auspicious start of the new year. But beyond the surprises we have in store for our customers, it's important to look back at the fundamental traditions that make this moment unique. Focus on Chinese New Year customs and what makes this celebration so special!
A lucky celebration with Vanessa Wu!
On January 29, we launched a special operation on our e-shop to celebrate the arrival of the Year of the Wood Snake. This year, as every year, we wanted to mark the occasion by adding a touch of luck to our customers' orders.
For 8 days, a lucky red envelope was slipped into each order, containing exclusive surprises. In addition, a golden ticket worth €100 was randomly inserted into an order each day. Why 8 days and 8 golden tickets? In China, the number 8 is a symbol of luck, wealth and success. So we wanted to play on this symbolism to offer our customers an experience that's as lucky as festive!
This is just a prelude to the many traditions that surround this time of the year. Let's take a moment to discover the practices that make Chinese New Year so special.
Red envelopes:
Red envelopes, known as hóng bāo, are one of the most emblematic traditions of the Chinese New Year. Given mainly to children and newlyweds, these envelopes contain money, but their real value lies in the message they convey: a wish for happiness, prosperity and luck in the New Year. In many families, it's also a way for the elderly to pass on their kindness and blessings to the younger ones.
At Vanessa Wu, we wanted to give a nod to this tradition by adding a red envelope to each order, full of little surprises: a warm message from our team to celebrate the New Year and a lucky charm to discover! A simple but symbolic gesture to bring a little luck and happiness to all our beloved customers.
Chinese New Year date:
Chinese New Year never falls on the same date every year, as it is determined by the first new moon of the lunar-solar calendar. This date varies from January 21st to February 20th.
In 2025, the festival began on January 29, marking the start of the Year of the Wood Snake. This variability of date is one of the festival's distinctive features and underlines the deep connection between the Chinese calendar and the natural cycles of the moon.
The big clean-up:
Even before the start of the Chinese New Year, it's traditional to perform a major house-cleaning. The purpose of this symbolic cleansing is to eliminate the bad energies accumulated over the past year, and make way for good fortune and prosperity. By ridding the home of dust and clutter, we also clear the air to welcome new opportunities and a better life.
The Lion and Dragon dance:
During the Chinese New Year festivities, you can attend lion and dragon dance performances. These traditional dances are performed by groups of dancers dressed in colorful costumes representing these mythological creatures. They are intended to chase away evil spirits, bring good luck and promote harmony. The dragon dance, in particular, is a fascinating show that always draws enthusiastic crowds!
Year of the Wood Snake:
Each year of the Chinese lunar calendar is associated with an animal and an element. In 2025, we enter the year of the Wood Snake, a sign that symbolizes wisdom, reflection and personal development. This year will be conducive to introspection and the quest for self-knowledge. The Wood Snake encourages us to take the time to reflect on our choices and actions, in search of meaning and wisdom.
Fireworks:
Chinese New Year's night is marked by spectacular fireworks, launched just after midnight. The aim of this tradition is to celebrate the arrival of the New Year, but also to ward off evil spirits. The detonations are supposed to expel malevolent forces and attract good luck and prosperity for the coming year. A genuine explosion of joy and color symbolizing a new beginning, free from all misfortune.
Lantern festival:
The Lantern festival, which marks the end of Chinese New Year celebrations, is a festive time when families gather to admire colorful lanterns floating in the air. Sweet rice dumplings, called Tangyuan, are also eaten, symbolizing family unity and harmony. The festival aims to promote peace and reconciliation, while celebrating the beauty and light of the lanterns that light up the night.
Conclusion:
Every year, Chinese New Year is a time of celebration rich in symbols and ancestral rituals. Fireworks, red envelopes, the lion dance... These traditions perpetuate values of luck, prosperity and renewal. At Vanessa Wu, we celebrated the Lunar New Year with a lucky deal: for 8 days, every order contained a red envelope full of surprises. But that's not all: 8 golden tickets worth €100 were also randomly slipped in to spoil our customers. May this year of the Wood Snake bring you wisdom, success and fulfillment!