Where to go for New Year 2019 in China

The best Chinese cities to celebrate your New Year's Eve.

2019 is less than a month away! Are you excited and happy about this coming year? Do you know where to spend the last day of 2018 and greet the first of 2019? Not sure? Then let us show you the best Chinese cities to celebrate New Year's Eve.

Beijing

Highlights: The Imperial Ancestral Temple, The Olympic Green, The Great Wall of China, The Summer Palace, Tian'anmen Square, The Solana Lifestyle Shopping Park, Sanlitun

There is no place that allows you to experience true Chinese culture and history more than Beijing. Today, the countdown to the New Year has become a major event in the city, and the huge and magnificent event will definitely make you remember the first day of 2019 for quite a while!

Head to the liveliest places in the evening and celebrate the countdown to welcome the New Year. When it's dawn you have to go to Tiananmen Square, watch the first day of new year's national flag ceremony, and start the yeat ahead.

After the countdown, you can go to places like Nanluoguxiang, Gulou, and Houhai for a midnight bbq (you can even try eating traditional snake!!). With neon signs lit up all around the city at night, you can enjoy a beautiful nighttime Beijing which is completely different from daytime Beijing.

The Light Festival in The Solana Lifestyle Shopping Park runs from December 2018 to March 2019, where you go to some concerts - but if you want to enjoy yourselves, please keep warm!

Harbin

Highlights: Central Street, The Saint Sophia Cathedral in Harbin, Harbin Ice-Snow World

The essential thing during the winter is snow! Whether you come from the South or North, if you spend your New Year in Harbin, this trip will certainly leave you with special memories. Eat an ice lolly in the sub-zero weather, and welcome the New Year with snowflakes in a crystal clear fairy tale world!

The Central Street and The Saint Sophia Cathedral are where you can visit the must-see New Year's Eve attractions.

With a cold north wind blowing in your face, the icy city of Harbin will surround you in a world of cold winter scenery. It is the largest ice and snow theme park in the world, and this year Harbin will hold the 20th event with the theme of “build a dream of ice and snow, share the golden and silver mountain”. There are not just themed ice buildings and ice and snow shows, but also 12 other wonderful activities to try. An added bonus is the excellent music festival, so you can enjoy the outdoor party and fireworks while welcoming the arrival of the New Year!

Photo from: the official website of Harbin Ice-Snow World

Hongqing

Highlights: JieFangBei

At nearly every New Year's Eve, the population of Chongqing gathers around the liberation monument to celebrate New Year's Eve, which has become one of the most special New Year's Eve activities in any Chinese city. Think huge crowds of people, loud drumming music, gongs and fireworks! At some point or another, the tradition of releasing balloons full of hydrogen at midnight became part of the program too!

There is a clock on the top of the liberation monument and when it reaches 11:59, everyone will start to count down together, and at midnight you can release a hydrogen balloon from your hands along with everyone else. The scene of tens of thousands of ballons released simultaneously into the sky is truly spectacular!

Nanjing

Highlights: Porcelain Tower of Nanjing, Nanjing Gingko Lake Park

The Porcelain Tower of Nanjing, part of the former Great Bao'en Temple, is a historical site located on the south bank of external Qinhuai River in Nanjing, China. Do you know how to celebrate New Year’s Eve in a millennium temple? Probably through experiencing the history of the Chinese dynasty, celebrating in a traditional costume, offering prayers for family members in a traditional ceremony, and personally ringing the New Year's bell! Chinese people like to ring the bell for blessing in the New Year to have a good luck in the coming year. According to tradition, each blessing should be rung three times, which represent “happiness, wealth and longevity”. So remember, the bell should be rung three times!

Nanjing Gingko Lake Park has a grand fireworks display on New Year’s Eve! This is the most romantic thing to do with someone you love, so ride the fantasy carousel, make a wish on the top of the Ferris Wheel, look at the sky fireworks and countdown to the New Year together!

Hong Kong

©Thanapol Kuptanisakorn/ Alamy Stock Photo

Two main activities:

1. Wish Upon a Star

Make a wish upon a pyrotechnic star and get your new year off to a great start. Beginning at 11 pm at 15-minute intervals, rooftops around the harbour will emit a series of “shooting stars”. So, when you see them, make a wish and it might just come true!

2. Musical Fireworks

As the hour strikes, watch as a brilliant 2019 fireworks and music display illuminates the iconic harbour, with fireworks and special effects lighting up the city’s skyline.

Every New Year’s Eve, the radiant Victoria Harbour is the belle of the ball for Hong Kong’s spectacular countdown. A party atmosphere will reign supreme as a stunning fireworks show lights up the skies. Whether you watch it along the shoreline, from a boat on the harbour or on-high in a skyscraper, it’s definitely worth planning early to ensure a prime spot

Macau

Highlights: Macau Tower, The Ruins of St. Paul's

There are many wonderful things you can look forward to if you spend New Years Eve 2019 in Macau, China. As Asia’s version of Las Vegas, you have the ideal place to enjoy just about anything.

On the last day of 2018, brilliant fireworks will still be set off near Macau Tower to celebrate the New Year. Please remember to carefully select accommodation or places to visit. There will also be a countdown in The Ruins of St. Paul’s.

The Fireworks display in Macau is one of the traditional New Year’s Eve activities. After the countdown is completed, and the year 2019 is approaching, you can make a wish under this night sky fireworks.

Best viewing location:

Zhuhai international convention and exhibition centre, Anim’Arte NAM VAN, Sai Van Lake, Macau Tower.

Before watching fireworks display, you can also enjoy free New Year’s Eve concert too!

Taipei

Taipei 101、Taipei City Hall Square

During New Year’s Eve celebrations you can find concerts with international artists performing at various events and entertaining the crowds all through the night. The special New Year’s Eve fireworks are hosted in the famous Taipei 101 building. As the crowd cheers on, the fireworks display starts as the countdown hits zero. The celebrations continue till wee hours of the morning, so you can party the night away!

If you are planning to spend your New Year’s Eve in these cities, early booking is advised. Check our Chinese hostels, booking your accommodation in advance! Or, use the form below to look for a specific Chinese city!