Chinese New Year 2027 falls on Saturday, 6 February 2027, the first day of the Year of the Goat 丁未羊年. It is the busiest travel event on earth: in 2026, China's 40-day Spring Festival rush moved 9.4 billion cross-region trips, 538 million of them by rail.
For a foreign visitor, Spring Festival is either the best week of the trip or the worst, and the difference is planning. Get it right and you get temple fairs, lantern festivals and dragon dances in full flow; get it wrong and you spend New Year's Eve in a city where every restaurant is booked, every train is sold out and the museum is shut. This guide covers the 2027 dates, the ticket calendar, what genuinely closes, where the celebrations are worth travelling for — and one deadline most travelers miss: China's 30-day visa-free policy expires on 31 December 2026.
The lunar calendar fixes the festival dates years ahead. What is not fixed is the official day-off schedule, which the State Council publishes roughly two months in advance — for 2027, expect it around November 2026. Until then, treat any "official" calendar you see online as a projection.
| Date (2027) | What it is | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|
| Fri 22 Jan | Chunyun begins (expected); 12306 opens sales for 5 Feb | The 40-day rush starts; fares and hotel rates start climbing. Seats are released 15 days out, station by station. |
| Fri 5 Feb | New Year's Eve 除夕 | Reunion dinner night; independent restaurants closed or fully booked |
| Sat 6 Feb | New Year's Day 正月初一 | Year of the Goat begins; temples and fairs open, many museums shut |
| 5–8 Feb | Statutory holiday (4 days by law) | The guaranteed days: Eve plus the first three |
| 5–12 Feb | Expected official break (8 days) | Projected with weekend swaps — unconfirmed until the State Council notice |
| Sat 20 Feb | Lantern Festival 元宙 | The finale: lantern fairs and the last fireworks |
| ~Tue 2 Mar | Chunyun ends (expected) | Transport and prices normalise |
The four statutory days come from the revised Measures for Public Holidays and Memorial Days (State Council Decree No. 795, effective 1 January 2025), which made New Year's Eve a holiday. In 2026 that produced a nine-day break (15–23 February); for 2027 the common projection is 5–12 February, eight days — four statutory days plus a weekend and two swapped working days.
China's 30-day unilateral visa exemption for ordinary-passport holders of 50 countries — the policy that made "just book a flight" possible — runs until 24:00 on 31 December 2026. As of 19 October 2026, no extension into 2027 has been announced. If you are flying in February 2027, you are planning against a policy that has not yet been renewed.
| Route | Who it covers | Stay | Status for Feb 2027 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unilateral visa-free | 50 countries: 35 in Europe (incl. UK, Russia), Australia and New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Brunei, four Gulf states, and six in the Americas (incl. Canada, Brazil) | 30 days | Expires 31 Dec 2026 — no 2027 announcement |
| 240-hour transit | 57 countries, 65 open ports | 10 days | In force; needs an onward ticket to a third country |
| Hainan 30-day | 61 countries, Hainan only | 30 days | In force |
| Regional group schemes | ASEAN groups to Xishuangbanna or Guilin; Hong Kong/Macau groups to Guangdong or Hainan | 6–30 days | In force; organised groups only |
| L tourist visa | Everyone else | Per visa | Always available — apply early |
Verify with the National Immigration Administration and your local Chinese embassy before booking — these policies change by announcement, not by season. Full breakdowns: visa-free entry guide and the 2026 expiry explainer.
春运 — "spring transport" — is the 40-day window around the holiday. In 2026 it ran 2 February to 13 March and moved 9.4 billion trips, up 4.3% year on year and a record: 538 million by rail (about 13.4 million a day, +4.8%), 8.74 billion by road, and the rest by air and water. The rule that follows from this: on peak days, popular routes sell out within minutes of release, and release is 15 days before departure, not months.
| What | Window | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 12306 train tickets | 15 days before departure, including departure day | Sales 05:00–01:00 next day (Tuesdays 05:00–24:00). Each station releases at its own time — check the sale-time lookup on 12306. |
| Domestic flights | About 11 months | Book 6–10 weeks out; trunk-route fares can double or triple |
| Hotels | Open now | Many impose 2–3 night minimums and prepayment over the holiday |
| Attractions | Typically 7 days | Real-name online reservation is standard; 2–5 Feb slots go fast |
| Reunion dinner | 4–8 weeks | Hotel and famous local restaurants sell out first |
Driving is the other escape route, with a caveat: cars with up to seven seats travel toll-free on national highways during the holiday, which is exactly why the roads are packed. Self-drive only makes sense on secondary routes outside the first and last three days — see the car rental guide for licence requirements.
The common misconception is that China shuts for a week. It doesn't — it reshuffles. What closes is small, family-run and independent; what stays open is large, corporate and tourist-facing.
| Day | Closed / disrupted | Open / worth doing |
|---|---|---|
| Eve (5 Feb) | Most independent restaurants; small shops from mid-afternoon; some museums close early | Hotel restaurants (booked set menus), supermarkets, convenience stores, temples from late evening |
| Day 1 (6 Feb) | Many museums and galleries; banks; government offices; much small retail | Temple fairs, temples, major scenic sites, malls, chain restaurants, cinemas |
| Days 2–3 (7–8 Feb) | Independent dining still thin; some attractions run reduced hours | Everything tourist-facing — the best window before domestic crowds peak |
| Days 4–6 (9–11 Feb) | Little closes — but this is the domestic travel peak | All attractions, with queues; book slots ahead |
| Days 7+ (12 Feb on) | Normalising; return transport is the constraint | Business as usual, residual holiday pricing |
| Lantern Festival (20 Feb) | Lantern parks sell out for the night | Lantern fairs, tangyuan, final fireworks — the best single evening |
Practical consequences: stock food and cash before the Eve, schedule museums from Day 3, and treat 9–11 February as book-everything days.
| Place | Why go for CNY specifically | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Beijing | Temple fairs at Ditan and Longtan parks, Changdian market, Forbidden City and Great Wall in clear winter light | -5 to 5°C; museum slots gone early |
| Xi'an | City Wall lantern festival, Datang Everbright City light shows, Muslim Quarter food | Terracotta Warriors need timed booking; freezing nights |
| Harbin | Ice and Snow World at full scale — 1.25 million m² and 400,000 m³ of ice and snow for 2026–27, plus a Frozen-themed zone announced in October 2026 | -20°C or colder; ice structures degrade by late February |
| Zigong, Sichuan | China's most spectacular lantern festival — the 33rd edition is expected to open in late January 2027 | Dates unconfirmed; the 32nd opened 23 January 2026 |
| Quanzhou & Chaozhou/Shantou | Yingge dance (英歌舞), temple processions, marionettes — the densest folk calendar in China | Little English; book hotels early |
| Pingyao | "Pingyao Chinese New Year" — lantern-lit walls, courtyard hotels, fireworks | Very cold; slippery wall walks |
| Shanghai | Yuyuan Garden lantern fair, Bund light shows, Disney New Year theming | Quietest big city on Day 1 — many restaurants shut |
| Guangzhou | Flower markets (迎春花市) on the Eve — unique to the Cantonese south — plus dim sum and 15°C weather | Markets packed on the Eve, dismantled right after |
Two more worth considering: Chengdu for temple fairs and hotpot in weather that never freezes, and Kaifeng, where molten-iron fireworks (打铁花) run through the holiday.
Holiday pricing is not subtle: hotel rates at two to three times normal, often with minimum-stay rules; peak fares on trunk routes; reunion dinners sold as set menus. Book refundable where you can.
| Chinese | Pinyin | Meaning / use |
|---|---|---|
| 春节 | Chūnjié | Spring Festival — the domestic name for Chinese New Year |
| 除夕 | Chúxī | New Year's Eve |
| 年夜饭 | niányèfàn | Reunion dinner — the meal the holiday revolves around |
| 红包 | hóngbāo | Red envelope. Give to children and staff; even amounts, avoid four |
| 庙会 | miàohuì | Temple fair: food stalls, acrobatics, paper cuts, sugar figures |
| 灯会 | dēnghuì | Lantern fair — the evening spectacle |
| 英歌舞 | yīnggēwǔ | Yingge dance — the masked, drum-driven Chaoshan procession |
| 打铁花 | dǎtiěhuā | Molten-iron fireworks thrown against a wall |
| 恭喜发财 | Gōngxǐ fācái | "Wishing you prosperity" — the standard greeting |
Small rules: don't give clocks, knives, shoes or white flowers; don't sweep on Day 1 (it sweeps away luck); avoid the number four; if invited to a family dinner, bring fruit or tea rather than something expensive. Fireworks are banned inside most large cities and allowed in designated areas — follow local signs rather than tradition.
This route assumes you land before the Eve and leave after Day 4, which keeps you inside the celebrations without trapping you in the worst transport days.
With ten days, add Pingyao between Beijing and Xi'an, or continue to Quanzhou for the Yingge dance season.
New Year's Day is Saturday, 6 February 2027, with New Year's Eve on Friday, 5 February. The Year of the Goat (Fire Goat, 丁未) begins on 6 February; the Lantern Festival closes the season on Saturday, 20 February.
Not yet. Four days are statutory (5–8 February); the State Council publishes the full schedule, including swapped working days, around November. The common projection is 5–12 February — confirm before booking non-refundable travel.
Only if the 30-day unilateral exemption is extended beyond 31 December 2026. As of 19 October 2026 no extension has been announced. If your passport is on the 50-country list, watch for the announcement; otherwise apply for an L visa in early December.
Exactly 15 days before departure, when sales open — no earlier, because that is the limit. Verify your passport on 12306 first, then book at your station's release time.
It is a bad time to move between cities on peak days and a great time to be in one place. Pick a city with strong festival programming — Beijing, Xi'an, Harbin, Zigong, Quanzhou — book transport and dinner in advance, and it is the most memorable week of the year.
Related reading: visa-free entry guide, the 2026 visa-free expiry, 240-hour transit, high-speed rail, night trains, domestic flights, hotel booking, payments, Harbin Ice Festival, winter travel, Beijing, Xi'an, Chaoshan, Quanzhou, Pingyao, Shanghai, Guangzhou food and Golden Week.
Last updated: October 19, 2026. Sources: State Council, Measures for Public Holidays and Memorial Days (Decree No. 795, effective January 1, 2025); Ministry of Transport 2026 chunyun summary (March 16, 2026); National Railway Administration holiday data (February 25, 2026); National Immigration Administration visa-free list (February 17, 2026) and Announcement No. 4 of 2026 (August 20, 2026); embassy notices extending unilateral visa-free entry to 24:00 December 31, 2026 (November 2025); 12306 notices on the 15-day presale period; Ministry of Culture and Tourism on the 32nd Zigong lantern festival (January 27, 2026). Dates marked "expected" are projections — verify with the National Immigration Administration and 12306 before booking.