From inviting parents on a trip to having special portraits taken or getting dressed in traditional Chinese clothing, young people in China are finding new ways to blend tradition and modernity as they celebrate the Spring Festival, the most important annual holiday in China.
The 2025 Chinese New Year fell on Wednesday, ushering in the Year of the Snake.
To observe the holiday this year, Xu Lingfang, a Shanxi native working in Beijing, decided to take a set of artistic photos with traditional Chinese paper cuttings as a souvenir to record how she has changed over the course of a year.
"It's the new year and I want to give myself a New Year's gift. Taking photos can capture the beauty of the present moment and has a sense of ceremony," said Xu.
As well as taking photos, wearing Hanfu, or traditional Han Chinese clothing, has also become increasingly popular among young people.
"I am wearing Hanfu clothing, and the style dates back to the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). The top is a winter coat and the bottom is a 'Mamian' skirt. The pattern on my skirt is the peony flower, representing wealth and prosperity. So I think it matches with the atmosphere of the Spring Festival," said Wang Xinran, a young Beijing resident.
"I believe the Spring Festival is a traditional holiday in China. Wearing Hanfu, especially clothes like what I am dressing in - which can be traced back to Tang Dynasty (618-907) - is a good way to combine traditional culture and the festival. We would like to promote our traditional culture this way," said Su Xintong, another young resident.
Times change, celebrations change, but what remains unchanged is the Chinese people's love and appreciation of the Spring Festival. After thousands of years of evolution, it has always been the connections of culture and family bonds that are central to this special holiday.
Young Chinese people put their own spin on Spring Festival celebrations
