Chinese New Year decorations are mostly red, mostly paper and almost always carry a wish. The classics are red lanterns, paired door couplets, the character fu (福, "good fortune") hung upside down, paper cuttings for the windows, New Year pictures, blossoming branches and kumquat trees. In 2027, expect goats and sheep on many of them.
Why is everything red?
Red stands for good luck and prosperity in Chinese culture, and it is traditionally believed to keep evil away. The idea is tied to the legend of Nian, a beast said to come out on New Year's Eve to harm people and livestock. In the story, villagers discover that Nian fears loud noise, fire and the color red, so they hang red lanterns and red scrolls on their doors and set off firecrackers.
Gold is the usual second color, for wealth. Lettering on red paper is done in gold or in black ink.
What are the main decorations, and what do they mean?
| Decoration | Where it goes | The wish behind it |
|---|---|---|
| Red lanterns | Doorways, streets, shop fronts | Driving off bad luck |
| Door couplets (chunlian or duilian) | Either side of a door | Good wishes for the year, such as harmony or prosperity |
| Fu character | On or above a door, often upside down | Good fortune arriving at the house |
| Paper cuttings | Windows and doors | Depends on the picture: long life, love, wealth |
| New Year pictures (nianhua) | Doors and walls | A greeting for the new year |
| Kumquat tree | Entrance or living room | Gold and good luck |
| Blossoms and flowers | Vases around the house | Spring and a flourishing year |
Red lanterns
Round red lanterns are hung outside houses, along streets and in office buildings. Lanterns also give their name to the Lantern Festival, which closes the season on the 15th day of the new year. In 2027 that day is February 20.
Door couplets
A couplet is a pair of matching lines of verse, written top to bottom on two long strips of red paper and pasted on either side of a door. The lines express hopes for the coming year. Couplets are posted in pairs because even numbers are associated with luck, and they are typically written in black ink on red paper. Families once bought them fresh each year, along with flowers and New Year prints, in the markets that opened before the holiday.
The upside-down fu
Fu is written on a square of red paper turned on its point, like a diamond, and hung on or over the door. Many households hang it upside down on purpose. The Lam Museum of Anthropology at Wake Forest University explains the gesture as a wish for good fortune to "pour out" on the home. There is a spoken pun in it too: in Chinese, "upside down" sounds the same as "arrive," so an upside-down fu says that good fortune has arrived.
Paper cuttings
These are pictures cut from a single sheet of paper, usually red, and stuck to windows and doors. Each traditional subject carries a meaning:
- Peach: long life
- Pomegranate: many children
- Mandarin ducks: love
- Pine: lasting youth
- Peony: honor and wealth
- Magpie on a plum branch: good news on the way
The zodiac animal of the year is a favorite subject, so 2027 designs feature goats and sheep.
New Year pictures and the Kitchen God
Bright printed pictures of legendary figures and plants are hung on doors and walls as a greeting for the new year. One printed image has a ritual of its own. In many homes a picture of the Kitchen God hung by the stove all year; shortly before the new year it was burned to send him off to report on the family, and a new one was put up for the year ahead.
Kumquat trees and flowers
A small kumquat tree covered in orange fruit is a new year favorite in Hong Kong, Macau and southern China. Its name sounds like the words for gold and good luck in both Cantonese and Mandarin.
Flowers mark the fact that the holiday is, by name, the Spring Festival. Plum blossom, peach blossom, orchids and peonies are the traditional choices, along with narcissus.
When do the decorations go up and come down?
Most decorating is done on New Year's Eve, which is February 5 in 2027. Some families begin about ten days before. Either way, the cleaning comes first: the house is cleaned thoroughly in the last days of the old year, to clear out the old and welcome the new, and the decorations go up afterward.
There is no single rule for taking them down, and customs differ between families. The festive season itself ends with the Lantern Festival on February 20, 2027.
How can you decorate respectfully at home?
You do not need to be Chinese to hang a lantern, and a few simple choices keep it thoughtful.
- Start with red and gold. A pair of lanterns, a fu square on the door and a bowl of mandarins or kumquats is a complete, traditional setup.
- Hang things in pairs. Two lanterns, two couplet strips.
- Check which way up the writing goes. Couplets are read from top to bottom. If you cannot read the characters, ask the seller or a friend which strip goes on which side.
- Add the year's animal. Goat and sheep motifs are right for February 6, 2027 through January 25, 2028.
- Skip the number four. Sets of four are traditionally avoided because the word for four sounds like the word for death.
For the customs that go with the decorations, see Chinese New Year traditions and Chinese New Year superstitions. If you are dressing for the occasion as well as decorating, see what to wear for Chinese New Year. Dates and the meaning of the coming year are on our Year of the Goat 2027 page.