Hundreds of Millions in Asia Celebrate the Year of the Snake with Festive Traditions

Hundreds of Millions in Asia Celebrate the Year of the Snake with Festive Traditions

Many millions of people from all over Asia celebrate this Lunar New Year with their families on Wednesday in the final days of this year’s Year of the Dragon and welcome the new year. Year of the Snake.

The Chinese celebrate eight consecutive days of public holiday during the 2025 Spring Festival, a chance to eat together, participate in traditional shows, and light fireworks and firecrackers.

Airports and train stations nationwide are jammed for weeks as thousands of people came home for the holidays with their loved ones during an annual migration likely to be a record.

High streets, shops, centers, homes, and offices are decorated with bright red banners believed to deter evil in several East and Southeast Asian regions, including South Korea, Singapore, Vietnam, and Thailand.

On the island of Taiwan, on Wednesdays, people of all ages filled temples all over the island to offer offerings of fruits, sweets, crackers, and nuts, as well as to pray and meditate.

“Our tradition is to visit the temple and pray for better fortune for this year,” Chen Ching-yuan, 36, said when she went to Longshan Temple in Taipei with her mother.

“There’s no need to ask for anything specific; just wish for a smooth, peaceful, safe, and healthy year, and pray that everything goes well,” she said to AFP.

Hundreds of Millions in Asia Celebrate the Year of the Snake with Festive Traditions

A few temple-goers welcomed the new year with a race for the honor of being the first one to release incense, hoping for luck.

“I didn’t want to look back with regret when I’m old, so I decided to go for it,” Kao Meng-shun stated after winning the contest held at Fusing Temple located in Yunlin County, in the central-west region of Taiwan.

“While I’m still young and have the energy, it’s the perfect time to take action and make the most of it.”

Travel is slowed by snow.

During the 40-day tradition, which runs before and after the Lunar New Year holidays in mainland China, approximately nine billion interprovincial travel journeys across all modes of transport are anticipated to be completed.

Chinese media outlet Xinhua said that travel by air and train is anticipated to “hit record highs” during this year’s migration season.

In South Korea, heavy snowfall disrupted trains, planes, and bus schedules, especially when people visited their relatives in the countryside this week.

People walked through Seoul’s central train station, carrying gifts wrapped in colorful cloths and bags before they left Seoul, the capital city.

Images published by local media showed cars covered in snow sitting on major highways in South Korea when heavy winds and snowfall persist.

Authorities warned that it could take up to seven hours to drive from Seoul to Busan, Korea’s port city, which usually takes four hours.

Some others decided to go on a trip abroad. The company that runs Incheon International Airport announced that more than 2.1 million travelers are scheduled to arrive at the airport to travel abroad between January 24 and February 2.

“This is projected to be the highest average daily passenger count during the Lunar New Year holiday since the airport opened (in 2001),” the airport operator stated in an announcement.

The festivities extended into space. The celebrations even extended to space by having Chinese astronauts Cai Xuzhe, Song Lingdong, and Wang Haoze sending New Year’s Eve greetings from the Tiangong space station on Tuesday.

In a video released by China Manned Space Agency (CMSA), the group could be seen in blue jumpsuits adorned with traditional red cloud patterns. They were with two pieces of paper that bore “fu,” the Chinese symbol “fu,” for good luck.

“In the new year, may all your dreams come true,” Wang told her by forming a heart over her head.