City Rooms

Chinese New Year is tomorrow, and the festivities have already begun! We’re welcoming in the ‘Year of the Rat’ at this huge celebration all across London. Join the largest celebrations of Chinese New Year outside of Asia, with an almost overwhelming amount of colour, traditional dancing lions, live music, and a ton of dragons too. The start of Chinese New Year is Saturday the 25th but the main London events will be happening on Sunday the 26th. So you still have time to plan out your day! Every year hundreds of thousands of people head down to the West End to enjoy the parade, music, acrobatics, and activities. Chinatown and Trafalgar Square will have a lot going on too! There’s also a lot of traditional chinese food obviously! Make sure to wish each other "Xin Nian Kuai Le" (Happy New Year in Mandarin) or  "San Nin Faai Lok" (in Cantonese) aswell! Starting with the incredible Chinese New Year Parade, which starts as soon as 10am hits. Starting at Charing Cross...

With the first month of 2019 over, we can jump into February with Chinese New year, a wonderful celebration with a colourful parade, street food stalls, fun activities, and a line-up of special performances in Trafalgar Square. This year, Chinese New Year falls on 5 February, with the main Chinese New Year London festivities happening on the 10th February. So we still have a week before the celebrations truly start. As a brief explanation, The Chinese zodiac moves in a 12-year cycle and each year has a corresponding animal. This year it’s the Year of the Pig, which means people born in 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995 and 2007 are all ‘pigs.’ For example, this year is the ‘Earth Pig,’ meaning those born in this year will be good at socializing and maintaining relationships. So now you know what we’re celebrating this year around, let’s talk about the festivities. All the fun in Trafalgar Square often starts with a beautiful thanksgiving ceremony with screen shows, firecrackers, speeches and...

CHINESE NEW YEAR 2014 A bit of history... According to tales and legends, the beginning of Chinese New Years started with the fight against a mythical beast called the "Year". The "Year" looks like ox with lion head and it stays in the sea. At the night of New Year's Eve, the "Year" will come out to harm people, animals, and proprieties. Later people found that the "Year" is afraid of red color, fire, and loud sound. Therefore, for self protection, people form the habit of posting red Dui Lian in front of the house, launching fireworks, and handing lantern at year end. Traditions... Dinner The New Year's Eve dinner is the most important dinner for Chinese. Normally this is the family reunion dinner, especially for those with family member away from home. In the New Year's Eve dinner, normally fish will be served. Dumplings are the most important dish in northern china. These two dishes mean prosperous. Other dishes...