cookiescompanion

Hi, we wil be in China for Chinese New Year 2008, and was wondering what to expect?

Is it best to be in a big city (eg. Hong Kong, Beijing or Shanghai) or a smaller city?

Will stuff be expensive? Will we find it very difficult to move around? Other tips/hints?

Please tell me your experiences of a China, Chinese New Year!

rkkwan

Chinese New Year is one of the three week-long holidays for most Chinese workers. [The other are the two "golden weeks" - first week of May and October, respectively.]

This is time when people return to their hometown to visit family. Understand that lots of people leave their hometown to work at the larger cities or at factories along the eastern seaboard. And this is one of the only times they can really go back to visit.

So, the big cities are in generally quiet. Some restaurants and stores and museums will be closed. Local public transportation will run, at reduced frequency. Long distance transportation will be extremely crowded.

Smaller cities won't be that busy either. It's the villages that actually get lively during CNY.

marksfour

HI rkkwan,
Your advice on our other post (China in February) was most aprreciated. We have changed our itinerary are now going to try to get from Beijing to Shanghai on Feb. 5th. Do you foresee any problems with train travel 2 days before the holiday? I have requested our hotel in Beijing (Peninsula) to try to get our train tickets for us.
Thank you for all of your posts
marksfour

petitepois

Have you checked the official dates of the holiday? As noted by rkkwan, the country closes for seven days for Chinese new year. So, depending on the official dates of the holiday -- which may have not yet been announced -- Feb 5 could be a problem.

I would suggest being in a big city for Chinese New Year, either Beijing or Shanghai as most places that cater to expats will not be closed. For you, Marksfour, I would STRONGLY suggest flying between Beijing and Shanghai and AVOIDING the train during this time. In my experience, it is IMPOSSIBLE to get train tickets around the holidays no matter how early you try. The government regulates these tickets and releases them on their own schedule. Even if you do manage to get tickets (which I have never done, nor have any of my friends who live in Beijing) the trains and stations will be incredibly, unpleasantly crowded.

I have flown from Beijing to Hong Kong and Shanghai during Golden Weeks and had no problem. It is better to wait until the middle of the holiday week to fly. I would suggest trying to find out the date of Chinese New Year EVE -- is it Feb 6? -- that and New Year's Day are considered the most important part of the holiday. Stay put during these days and travel afterwards.

thursdaysd

I don't know whether it's impossible to get train tickets around the New Year holiday, but CITS got me a train ticket for Beijing to Hangzhou for the night before National Day, which is also a big holiday. The Beijing train station was indeed very crowded, but once on the train you have your own bunk.

petitepois

National Day is nothing like CNY when 99% of the population travels home to their "lao jia" to be with family. I lived in Beijing for four years until this summer and heard horror stories every year.

Cicerone

Chinese New Year will be officially celebrated in Hong Kong from February 7– 9 in 2008. I believe the start date is the same for the PRC, but would agree that even on the 5th there may be a good chance of a bit of traffic of people traveling in order to get to their family reunion dinner which will be held on the evening of Feb 6. However, if the hotel can get you tickets, then just go a bit early to the station and be prepared for some crowds. Crowds will definitely be worse on the 6th.

What you will find in Beijing on the 7th, 8th and most likely at least the 9th is that all shops and all restaurants outside of hotel restaurants will be closed. Although I believe that the Forbidden City is open during the holiday, I am not sure this is the case with all attractions like Mao's Masoleum, the Summer Palace, Temple of Heavan, etc, so check a guidebook or website when planning your itinerary for the day. Here in Hong Kong, things are open again by the 9th, but I know that the PRC has a longer holiday.

petitepois

I respectfully disagree that all shops and all restaurants outside of hotel restaurants will be closed in Beijing. I have spent a CNY in Beijing and a few restaurants do stay open, particularly those that cater to foreigners. A good place for info is www.thatsbj.com, a local expat magazine that has an active forum. It is probably too early to check now, but in the month or weeks before CNY there should be lots of good info.

marksfour

Thank you Petitepois for your insightful posts. If we can get seats on Feb. 5 and Feb. 6 do you recommend flying on the 5th to avoid crowds? I was hoping everyone would be home by the 6th and not be traveling

marksfour

Also, thank you to Cicerone

petitepois

Marksfour, I think you should be okay flying on the 5th. It's the train that I would avoid.

Most people will try to be home for the night of the 6th, but it all boils down to what days the government will declare as the official start of the holiday. Most people don't get extra vacation days outside the week of holiday, so there will be a mad rush on the day the holiday starts, and not everyone will make it on that day. Followed by another mad rush the next day. It's an insane way of doing things, but there you have it.

Another bizarre (to westerners) thing is that the government designates make-up work days to compensate for the week of holiday. So, either the weekend before or after will be working weekend for most Chinese employees. I had to do this when I worked at a Chinese company and it drove me crazy! You'd go 14 days without a day off.

marksfour

That sounds so quintessenially "China". ha

I appreciate your advice and feel better about being in Shanghai by the 5th. We were able to get tickets from PEK to SHA on the 5th. We would hate to travel on an overly crowded day if we didn't have to.
Sounds like the last day of the Holiday (and possibly the day after)will also be crowded so we plan to stay put on those days too.

These posts have been so informative and helpful. Thank you!

magicvoice

We were in Hong Kong for CNY 2001 (ringing in the year of the snake.) The city was pretty quiet but things were open (except on the actual New Year's Day.)
Everything was decorated festively and there was a big parade and the best fireworks in the harbor I've ever seen. Even with so many residents out of town, there was still a "sea" of people at both of these events.

cookiescompanion

Thanks a lot for the information! Very helpful - I love fodors