Travel guide for spending the Chinese New Year in New York City

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This year the Chinese New Year, aka Lunar New Year, begins on February 1, 2022. The celebrations will last 15 days. 2022 is the Year of the Tiger, the third sign of the Chinese zodiac.

New Year is the longest and most important holiday in the Chinese Lunar calendar. New York City has its own Chinatown and it’s a great place to celebrate the New Year. There are so many celebrations in the Big Apple that make it a great place to be in February!

New York Philharmonic Orchestra

Celebrate the Lunar New Year and welcome in the Year of the Tiger with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. This celebration takes place on February 8, 2022 at 7:30 pm.

Violinist Stella Chen joins the Orchestra in Bizet’s Carmen Fantasia. Hera Hyesang sings songs by Dvorak, Cho Doe-nam and Lim Geung-soo. Earl Lee conducts the Orchestra in Li Huanzhi’s Spring Festival Overture.

The Gala evening includes a pre-concert reception and a post concert seated dinner with the artists.

Metropolitan Museum of Art

On Saturday, January 29, 2022, from 10 am to 5 pm, The Metropolitan Museum of Art is having a Year of the Tiger Festival with virtual performances, interactive activities and artist led workshops. The performances will be Vietnamese Ao Dai and Dance and Slay-sian Calligraphy. Art Making includes Luminous Lanterns and Drop-in Drawings. There will also be Talks and Storytelling.

You can visit the Metropolitan Museum to see the exhibit “Celebrating the Year of the Tiger” and “Shell and Resin Korean Mother of Pearl and Lacquer.”

Museum of Chinese in America

The Museum of Chinese in America (MoCA) is giving away Lunar New Year Craft Packs for children. Each craft pack contains 3 festive crafts with instructions on how to make them, 3 coloring sheets, a red envelope and more. Parents can pick these up between now and February 13, 2022.

New York Knicks

The New York Knicks will be celebrating Lunar New Year for the first time. On February 14, 2022, the Knicks will be playing the Oklahoma City Thunder. Before and during the game, the New York Chinese Cultural Center will have a Calligraphy Table in the Madison Concourse in Section 105. There will also be giveaways.

New York Chinese Cultural Center

The New York Chinese Cultural Center will perform traditional lion dances and ribbon twisting at Hudson Yards on January 29 and February 13 at 1 pm, 3pm and 5 pm.

Brooklyn Conservatory of Music

The Brooklyn Conservatory of Music is celebrating the passing of a New Lunar Year with an afternoon of traditional and contemporary Chinese music, a performance of the lion dance, crafts, calligraphy and more.

New York Chinese FreeMasons Athletic Club

New York Chinese FreeMasons Athletic Club has partnered up with Chinatown to bring free lion dances to Chinatown on February 5, 2022. Colorful lion dances, drums and cymbals with firecrackers will dance their way through Chinatown.

Chinese New Year Firecracker Ceremony & Cultural Festival

Chinese New Year Firecracker Ceremony & Cultural Festival will take place at Sara D. Roosevelt Park on February 1, 2022. Hundreds of thousands of firecrackers will be lit to welcome the Year of the Tiger and ward off evil spirits. There will be lion dances and food booths will also be there. It is said the more dumplings you eat at the festival, the more money you’ll make in the next year. Be sure to come hungry.

Chinatown Lunar New Year Parade

The Chinatown Lunar New Year Parade 2022 is happening February 12, 2022, from 1 pm to 5 pm. See colorful floats, marching bands, lion dancers, dragon dancers, antique cars, beauty queens, firecrackers and much more.

Restaurants

And, if you’d like a culinary celebration of the New Year, you should try the following restaurants in New York City as chosen by the users of TripAdvisor.

  1. Excellent Dumpling House
  2. Shanghai 21
  3. Fried Dumplings
  4. Dim Sum Palace
  5. Red Farm
  6. Main Noodle House
  7. Wo Hop
  8. Cafe China
  9. Xi’an Famous Foods
  10. Kung Fu Kitchen

Chinatown Tours

To get a better understanding of Chinatown and Chinese culture, you can take a walking tour of Chinatown or a Chinatown Private Food tour.

New York City Hotels

If you’d like to visit New York City to enjoy the celebrations, you should consider the following hotels. They’re located near the festivities and, if you click on our links, you can save money on your stay.

  • Hotel Riu Plaza New York Times Square 42% Discount
  • 1 Hotel Central Park 40% Discount
  • Westgate New York Grand Central 35% Discount
  • Hotel 32 32 30% Discount
  • Club Quarters, Times Square 30% Discount
  • Club Quarters Hotel, World Trade Center 30% Discount
  • Fifty Hotel & Suites by Affinia 30% Discount
  • Belnord Hotel 30% Discount
  • The Jewel, a Club Quarters Hotel, Opposite Rockefeller Center 30% Discount
  • World Center Hotel 30% Discount
  • Shelburne Hotel & Suitors by Affinia 30% Discount
  • Park Terrace Hotel on Bryant Park 30% Discount
  • Hotel 46 Times Square 25% Discount
  • The Gotham Hotel 23% Discount
  • The Washington 22% Discount
  • Renaissance New York Chelsea Hotel 22% Discount
  • Garden Suites Hotel by Affinia 22% Discount
  • Millennium Hotel Broadway Times Square 22% Discount
  • The Wallace 22% Discount
  • The Lucerne Hotel 22% Discount
  • The Wall Street Inn 22% Discount
  • The Hotel at Fifth Avenue 22% Discount
  • Mr. C Seaport 20% Discount
  • Ace Hotel 20% Discount
  • The Plaza Hotel 20% Discount
  • Millennium Hilton NewYork Downtown 20% Discount
  • Embassy Suites by Hilton New York Manhattan Times Square 20% Discount
  • Holiday Inn Manhattan 6th Avenue – Chelsea, an IHG Hotel 20% Discount
  • Mondrian Park Avenue 20% Discount
  • Aliz Hotel Times Square 20% Discount
  • Arthouse Hotel New York City 20% Discount
  • Dylan Hotel NYC 20% Discount
  • M Social Hotel Times Square New York 15% Discount
  • Hotel 57 15% Discount
  • Hotel Newton 15% Discount
  • The Hotel at Times Square 15% Discount