This year’s CNY marks the transition of the year of the Rat to the year of the Ox and will commence on February 12 with the start of the Spring festival, also known as the Chinese New Year (CNY). The CNY, or Lunar New Year occurs sometime between January 21 and February 20 according to Western calendars. The Spring festival is a fifteen-day celebration which starts the evening before the first day of the festival (February 12, 2021) and ends with the Lantern festival which lasts over a period of four days (February 23-26).

According to the myth of the “Great Race” about how the Chinese zodiac came to be, the Jade emperor (Yùdì) wanted to develop a method of measuring time so he organized a race and decided the first twelve animals who would complete the race would be chronologically placed on the zodiac calendar. As the story goes, the ox was about to be the first animal to arrive when the rat tricked him asking for a passage across the river. The kind-hearted ox agreed and secured passage for the rat. When they were about to reach the shore, the rat jumped off of the ox’s back and secured the first spot, earning the first spot of the zodiac calendar.

According to Chinese culture, the ox is hardworking and honest due to its prominent role in agriculture.

CNY and COVID-19

The Lunar New Year is one of the most significant festivals in many Asian countries. In 2017, travellers made as many as three billion trips going home to celebrate the new year with their families. Families celebrate during this special time by doing activites such as handing out red envelopes filled with cash amongst family members. Chinese families also worship their ancestors in front of a monument inscribed with their names. Although traditions vary from region to region, the new year’s eve meal is a very important time for families across China. Family members also share traditional Chinese dishes to assure a fortunate year to come. New Year’s rituals, such as cleaning one’ house before New Year’s Eve, are strictly adhered to. The cleaning of one’s house signifies getting rid of the old and bad and making way for the new and good to come into one’s home.

Similarly, to last year’s CNY, the celebration will be different than usual due to the outbreak of COVID-19. Since numbers of cases have been increasing, local Chinese governments are telling people to stay at home and do not travel. The local governments are also taking precautions and are enlisting strict approval processes for people who absolutely need to be travelling around the holiday. Travelling within the Chinese province you reside is not a problem. The spring festival’s travel rush, also known as 春运: chūnyùn, will likely be the least busy rush in 18 years.

CNY and Business

During the CNY many factories close their doors as their workers return home to their families for the annual festivities. The effect of the Chinese New Year on businesses will have to be taken into consideration as businesses may wind down operations a week prior to the commencement of the new year. Even though this year there won’t be as much travelling as previous years, regular business operations will usually start up again around the last day of the Lantern Festival, which will be on February 26, 2021. Planning in advance for the closures during the New Year celebrations will allow foreign businesses to avoid late deliveries from their Chinese counterparts. Planning for the annual Chinese holiday would take into consideration activities such as confirming opening and closing dates of the businesses one’s working with, preparing sufficient amounts of inventory beforehand and settling payments before CNY starts.

In a culture where relationships are key, taking into consideration the annual traditions associated with the holiday season could prosper your relationships with your Chinese business partners: you will reap the benefits long after celebrations have ended, and everyone is back to work.  

We at Expertise in Labour Mobility would like to wish everyone across the world a prosperous and happy new year, or as our Chinese friends and colleges would say:

新年快乐!: xīnniánkuàilè!

Isabelle Hommes for ELM Team