Chinese New Year in Romania

When the warm glow of red lanterns illuminates the streets of Bucharest, and the ripples of the Danube reflect the ink-wash charm of Spring Festival couplets, Chinese New Year has long evolved into a cross-continental cultural feast on Romanian soil. Here, the New Year customs not only preserve the traditional Chinese heritage upheld by overseas Chinese merchants from Qingtian, Zhejiang, but also embody a new chapter of integration co-created by Chinese and Romanian people—endowing homesickness with new connotations and deepening friendship amid the flavor of the New Year.

At the family level, the New Year's Eve reunion dinner stands as the core ritual: Chinese households prepare a full array of hometown ingredients such as preserved pork and dumplings, accompanied by local delicacies like Romanian red wine and Sarmale (cabbage rolls with meat). Doors and windows are adorned with bilingual Spring Festival couplets and red lanterns. Younger generations pay New Year respects to their elders to receive lucky money, watch the Spring Festival Gala via live stream, and video call relatives back in China, achieving cross-oceanic reunion.

Street celebrations are a feast for the senses: On the first day of the Lunar New Year, dragon and lion dance performances in Bucharest's Chinatown draw participation from both Chinese and Romanian residents, with many Romanian young people joining dragon dance troupes to add a unique vitality. The Chinese Cultural Center, the Athenaeum Concert Hall, and other venues host intangible cultural heritage (ICH) experience activities, China-Romania folk music concerts, and Spring Festival galas. Activities such as lantern-making, fu character writing, and bilingual lantern riddles allow local people to deeply experience the Chinese New Year atmosphere. The Lantern Festival lighting display further elevates the atmosphere to a climax, as creative lanterns integrating Chinese and Romanian elements illuminate the banks of the Danube.

Cultural symbiosis has become a prominent feature: Chinese families incorporate traditional Romanian foods and decorative elements, while locals cherish the auspicious meaning of red in the Spring Festival and combine it with the red-and-white symbol of their native "Martisor" (a Romanian traditional ornament). Chinese merchants promote Spring Festival culture through platforms like Niro Market, and "Happy Spring Festival" has evolved into a regular cultural brand between China and Romania. The aroma of dumplings blends with the charm of the Danube, writing a beautiful chapter of friendship and blessings of reunion between the two peoples.