JAKARTA – The celebration often called Lunar New Year—more accurately known as the Chinese New Year or the Spring Festival—marks the turn of the lunar calendar and the beginning of a new cycle of hope. This year the festival will be held 17 February 2026.

Across families and generations, homes are cleaned, debts are settled, and doors are opened for good fortune to enter. Red decorations, reunion dinners, and the exchange of blessings become a language of optimism spoken from the dining table. And the Chinese usually start the celebration a week earlier just to make sure all the rituals conducted well.

On the due day, food will be central to the celebration. A New Year feast is never random; every dish carries a wish. Through pronunciation, appearance, or tradition, meals become edible prayers for prosperity, longevity, harmony, and success.

Most Commonly Appear During Lunar New Year

Dumplings – Wealth and Prosperity

Jiaozi are shaped like ancient Chinese silver or gold ingots. Because of this resemblance, families believe eating them can bring financial luck in the coming year. In many homes, relatives gather to wrap dumplings together on New Year’s Eve, turning cooking into a warm reunion ritual.

Fish – Surplus and Abundance

Serving Chinese steamed fish is almost mandatory. The word for fish, yu, sounds like the word for surplus. Leaving a little uneaten at the end of the meal symbolizes that abundance will continue beyond the present year.

Noodles – Long Life

Longevity noodles are prepared extra long and should not be cut. Their length represents a wish for a long, healthy life. Slurping them carefully is part of respecting that blessing.

Rice Cake – Growth and Progress

Nian gao sounds like “higher year.” Eating it expresses hope for improvement—whether in career, study, or personal development. Families often gift rice cakes to relatives as a sweet gesture of encouragement.

Spring Rolls – Gold and Success

Crispy Spring roll resemble bars of gold. Their golden color after frying makes them a popular symbol of prosperity, especially for business owners welcoming a profitable year.

Sweet Rice Balls – Togetherness

Round Tangyuan represent completeness and family unity. Their shape mirrors the idea that loved ones, no matter where they travel, will eventually return home.

Mandarin Oranges – Fortune and Good Luck

Bright Mandarin orange are widely displayed in homes and exchanged as gifts. Their golden color symbolizes wealth, while the pronunciation of the word in Chinese is closely associated with luck and prosperity.

Basket Cake – Unity and Sweetness

Known as Kuih bakul or basket cake, this sticky dessert signifies family cohesion and a sweeter life ahead. Because it is made from glutinous rice and sugar, it also represents strong bonds among relatives.

Beyond the menu, the reunion dinner expresses gratitude. Elders pass down stories, children offer respect, and everyone shares wishes for better days ahead. Firecrackers, lion dances, and red envelopes may vary from place to place, but the emotional core remains the same: renewing bonds.

Cecilia, a Chinese Indonesian resident of Malang, says the festival is far more than an annual party. “For me, Lunar New Year is a moment to come home. No matter how busy we are, we must return, eat together, and ask for our parents’ blessings,” she explains (16/2/2026).

She adds that while the dishes may look similar every year, the feeling is never the same. “We celebrate the taste of togetherness. That is what makes the night special,” she added.

In the end, Lunar New Year  is not only about what is eaten, but what is meant. Every bite carries a message, every toast a promise. Around the table, tradition continues—warm, hopeful, and delicious. (*)