ISLAMABAD (PEN) : With the Spring Festival right around the corner, China begins its festive celebrations on Thursday with Xiao Nian, also called the “Little Chinese New Year.”
The Chinese place great importance on the Spring Festival and often observe a series of pre-festival celebrations, such as Laba and Xiao Nian, to “warm up” to the main event.
While Laba is seen as the prelude to the festive season, Xiao Nian signals the beginning of active preparations for the Chinese New Year. After Xiao Nian, people begin putting up Spring Festival couplets, hanging lanterns, buying new clothes, and stocking up on holiday essentials.

People shop for lanterns and other New Year decorations at a local market as the Spring Festival approaches, Shaoxing City, eastern China’s Zhejiang Province, January 22, 2025. /CFP
Celebrating Xiaonian
In China’s eastern cities of Huangshan and Tongling, Anhui Province, locals celebrate Xiao Nian with grand folk performances, bustling markets, and vibrant nighttime festivities.
By integrating elements of intangible cultural heritage into the celebrations, people have also created a diverse range of cultural and creative products and infused traditional heritage into market activities. These efforts provide visitors with an authentic and immersive festive experience, rich with the spirit of the Spring Festival.
The timing of Xiao Nian varies across China. In northern regions, it falls on the 23rd day of the 12th lunar month, while in southern China, it is celebrated on the 24th day. This year it falls on January 22 in the north.
According to You Guoqing, a folk expert and columnist, the dates were solidified after the Qing Dynasty. He explained that in ancient China, the imperial family celebrated Xiao Nian on the 23rd of the 12th month, common folk on the 24th, and water-dwelling families on the 25th. Over time, however, northern regions gradually adopted the 23rd as Xiao Nian, while the southern regions settled on the 24th.

“Zaotang”, a type of Chinese candy offered to the Kitchen God as a way to pray for family harmony and happiness. /CFP
Traditions of Xiao Nian
The day is traditionally observed to honor the Kitchen God. According to Chinese Taoist mythology, the Kitchen God ascends to heaven on this day to report to the Jade Emperor, the God of Heaven, about each household during the past lunar year. The Jade Emperor will then decide whether to bestow luck on the families or punish them.
People will offer various foods, especially candies, to the Kitchen God to make sure he won’t speak ill of their families. In many rural households in China, paintings of the Kitchen God are still placed above fireplaces.
Following Xiao Nian, people will also put up couplets and the “Fu” character, staples of the Spring Festival. Couplets are a pair of poetic lines conveying auspicious messages written in calligraphy on two rolls of red paper. Before the Spring Festival, every family would put up a pair of couplets on both sides of their doors.
In the ancient days, the couplets were usually hand-crafted by local calligraphers. Writing a pair of good couplets could also demonstrate the literary talents of the scholars. But today, it’s not difficult to find a pair of printed couplets at the supermarket.
Another long-standing tradition is getting a haircut before the Spring Festival, for the ancient Chinese believed that a haircut in the first month of the Lunar New Year would bring bad luck. People usually wait until the second lunar month for their next trim.
Though the habits and traditions of the Xiao Nian are slightly different across China, people’s wishes and expectations for a new year are similar: Welcoming the Spring Festival and reuniting with their families.