Walk the Flower Streets After Dark
It is the evening of 5 February 2027, Lunar New Year's Eve, and the pavements of Guangzhou have turned into corridors of red. Stalls draped in scarlet sell tulips, lilies and roses — this is a tropical city that can grow flowers in spring, and the Flower Street (花市) is its signature New Year institution, recognised as intangible cultural heritage of Guangdong Province. The scent of cut stems and damp greenery mixes with the sweetness of roasting chestnuts and the press of families buying last-minute blooms. Look for the small green orange trees heavy with golden kumquats: ornamental and inedible, they are the most popular plant of the season, kept in homes and shopfronts as a token of wealth for the year ahead.
- Go late and go slowly — Flower Streets run through the pre-holiday days and peak on New Year's Eve itself.
- Buy a kumquat tree or a bunch of lilies to carry home; it is what everyone else is doing.
- Wear red. It is the colour of the season, and at the temple fairs it is practically a dress code.
Eat the Reunion Dinner, Then Stay Up for Midnight
New Year's Eve in Guangzhou is built around the reunion dinner, and the table tells the story: fish, chicken, pork, dumplings and Chinese wine. The fish is left partly uneaten — surplus wealth, carried into the new year. Some families hide a coin in a dumpling; whoever finds it takes the luck. Book a table well ahead if you want to eat out, or join a family-style banquet in one of the city's Cantonese restaurants. Afterwards, the city settles in to watch the Spring Festival Gala on television and stays awake until midnight, when fireworks crack overhead and digital red envelopes fly across WeChat. The noise is the point: legend says the Nian monster fears red, fire and loud sound, which is why firecrackers, red couplets and lanterns mark the night.
- Order fish and leave a little on the plate — it is the custom, not an accident.
- Keep your phone charged for the midnight red-envelope exchanges.
- Greet people with "Xin Nian Kuai Le," "Guo Nian Hao" or "Gong Xi Fa Cai," and try the traditional fist-and-palm salute: men place the left hand over the right half-fist, women the reverse.
Follow the Temple Fairs and Street Performances
Guangzhou holds temple fairs through the Spring Festival, and they are the city at its most theatrical: red lanterns strung overhead, stalls selling local specialties, and folk performances — plays and kung fu — spilling into the streets. Come in the days after New Year's Day (6 February onward), when the city is out in force in new red clothes, making offerings to heaven, earth and ancestors before breakfast and visiting relatives. Dragon and lion dances are common across the region, especially in villages and ancient towns, so keep an eye on side streets and squares. The full New Year period runs 6–20 February 2027, closing with the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.
- Look for lantern displays with riddles on the final day of the festival.
- Buy traditional handicrafts at the fairs: God of Wealth pictures, New Year dolls and couplets.
- Watch for lion dances in the older neighbourhoods and surrounding villages — they are a fixture of the season.
Close the Festival with Tangyuan
The New Year period ends with the Lantern Festival, and in the south the sweet glutinous rice balls eaten that day are called tangyuan (yuanxiao in the north). Find them in dessert shops and family restaurants as the lanterns come down. It is a quiet, sweet finish to two weeks of noise, red paper and fireworks — and a good excuse to linger a day or two longer in the city.
Plan Around the Calendar, Not the Clock
2027 is the Year of the Sheep, and the fixed points are these: New Year's Eve falls on 5 February, and the festival runs to 20 February. Guangzhou's own programme of concerts and parades is announced closer to the date, so build your trip around the Flower Streets, the temple fairs and the reunion dinner — the things the city reliably does every year — and leave room for what the season throws up. Bring warm clothes for the evenings, a large-capacity camera, and the Gaode Map app for navigating and hailing taxis. Then start booking: the best tables and the rooms near the markets go early.