Chinese New Year 2017, also called Spring Festival, has began and festivities are happening now!
We all know that China is a country full of innovation and progress, but despite globalization and fast changing, Chinese New Year remains a holiday full of traditions. Nowadays, Chinese people respect these traditions, while adapting them to their way of life, using the new ways of transportation and to communicate.
The Spring Festival in China last five days and the two most important ones are: Chinese New Year’s Eve, which is the day for family reunion and Chinese New Year’s Day, which is the day of family visits and greetings. The date changes every year, according to the Chinese lunar calendar. 2017, the year of the Rooster, Chinese New Year’s Day is on Saturday, January 28th, 2017.
The biggest migration
Mainland
People who moved away from home for work or studies, are all coming back to their home city for this special occasion. The main point is to be reunited with their loved ones to celebrate the new year.
Spring festival is the biggest migration of the year in China. People are mostly moving from big cities to their hometowns in the countrysides of China.
200 million Mainland Chinese travel long distances during these holidays, and it is estimated that 3 billions trips will be made.
Migration map, by Baidu, 2016
Overseas
6 million mainlanders will choose to travel outside China during the Spring Festival.
People travelling abroad during Chinese New Year is expected to increase by 9,8% compared to the same period last year. The main travelers’ destinations are NorthEast and SouthEast Asia. Europe is expected to be the first long-haul journey, with a growth of 68,5% over the same period last year.
Traditions
Chinese New Year is a very special time of the year and Chinese people respect the traditions.
- They clean the house before the festival, because they can’t do it until five days after Chinese New Year’s Day
- The home is full of decoration. Flowers are hugely popular, the same as the characters, which have to be placed in a special order in the house in order to give good luck
- Chinese people usually cut their hair before CNY’Day, because they can’t do it in the first month of the year
- The food is one of the main important thing during Spring Festival. Families buy a lot of food before the celebration day. Some food are considered to give good luck (fish, noodles)
Digital Chinese New Year
Red envelopes
Red Pockets or “Hongbao” are part of the tradition of Chinese New Year. They are filled with money and usually given to the children from the elders. The digital took part of this tradition and people now share these envelopes trough their mobile, by Wechat. During the Chinese New Year 2016 period, the average number of WeChat Red Pockets sent and received individually was 20. In 2016, WeChat registered 8 billion transactions during this period! Will the number increase this year..?
WeChat campaigns
Brands are also adapting their marketing strategy to the Chinese market at this important time of the year. They offer “gifts” and promotion to the WeChat users. One of the best example is the brand Burberry, which launched the campaign “A Lunar New Year” and enabled users to “unwrap” gifts on the app.
Burberry Chinese New Year campaign, on WeChat, 2016
Chinese New Year is the most important holiday in China during which all traditions are respected. In the same time, new technologies and digitalization impact consumer experience and brands have to adapt to them.