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Chinese New Year 2027 for Visitors: Dates, What's Known, and the Booking Math
Short answer
Chinese New Year 2027 falls on Saturday 6 February 2027 — the start of the Year of the Goat, with New Year's Eve on 5 February. The official public-holiday arrangement has NOT been published yet; the State Council releases each year's schedule the preceding November (the 2026 schedule landed 4 November 2025). What is already certain: trains sell 15 days ahead, spring festival travel will run roughly 40 days around the holiday, and headline museums keep their normal advance-booking windows. This page updates the moment the schedule drops.
What is certain right now
- The date: New Year's Day (正月初一) is 6 February 2027, a Saturday. New Year's Eve (除夕) is 5 February. 2027 begins the Year of the Goat (丁未年).
- The holiday will be long: since the 2025 system revision, Spring Festival carries 4 statutory days (New Year's Eve plus days 1–3), and recent practice extends it by swapping adjacent weekends — 2026 got 9 consecutive days. Expect 2027 to land in the same range, but the exact block is unknown until the announcement.
- Train presale is 15 days ahead counting the sale day, with each departure station having its own on-sale minute. The moment the holiday block is announced, the whole release calendar is computable: subtract 15 days from any travel date.
- Spring festival travel (春运) will span roughly 40 days centred on the holiday — for a 6 February New Year, that is mid-January to late February.
What to expect, based on the 2026 pattern
The 2026 schedule (announced 4 November 2025) ran the holiday from 腊月廿八 through 正月初七 — two days before New Year's Eve through seven days after New Year's Day — with two weekend makeup workdays. If 2027 follows the same shape, the block would sit around early-to-mid February 2027. That is an expectation, not an announcement; do not book non-refundable travel against it.
- Watch for the announcement on gov.cn around November 2026 — we will update this page with the exact dates, the makeup workdays, and the full train-ticket release calendar within a day of publication.
- Hotels in destination cities (Harbin's ice festival season, Sanya beaches, Xi'an) start their holiday pricing steps well before the official announcement — the market moves on the lunar date, not the government notice.
- Airfare and hotel booking engines already accept February 2027 dates; just hold refundable rates until the schedule is official.
What closes, what doesn't (holiday-week reality)
- Open as normal: headline museums keep their advance-booking windows and statutory holidays suspend Monday closures; all payment systems; taxis and Didi; convenience stores.
- Closed or reduced: government offices, bank counters, and many family-run restaurants and small shops for roughly 3–7 days around New Year's Eve.
- The counterintuitive bit: big destination cities are calmer during the holiday itself, because hundreds of millions of people leave them. The crowded places are transport hubs and hometown provinces. The Forbidden City still needs a booked ticket — it sells out, just on a softer curve than Golden Week.
- Firecrackers are legal in designated areas of many cities and loud after dark on New Year's Eve — earplugs for light sleepers.
Planning checklist for February 2027
- Now: hold refundable hotels and flights around 5–8 February if your dates are firm; note the lunar dates above in your calendar.
- November 2026: re-check this page for the official block and makeup workdays; compute your train release dates (travel date minus 15).
- December 2026: book destination-city hotels — holiday pricing moves in steps.
- Mid-January 2027: spring travel opens; set alarms for your departure stations' on-sale minutes and use 12306's official waitlist for anything sold out.
Related questions
When is Chinese New Year 2027?
Saturday 6 February 2027 — the first day of the Year of the Goat. New Year's Eve is 5 February. The extended public-holiday block around it has not been announced yet; the State Council typically publishes the schedule the preceding November.
When will the 2027 Chinese holiday schedule be announced?
Around November 2026, following the pattern of the 2026 schedule (published 4 November 2025). This page will be updated with the exact dates and train-ticket release calendar within a day of publication.
When do train tickets for Chinese New Year 2027 go on sale?
Fifteen days before each travel date, once the holiday dates are fixed. If the holiday block matches the 2026 pattern, tickets for a 6 February New Year's Day would open in late January 2027. Each departure station also has its own on-sale minute — see our station on-sale times page for the lookup.
Is China worth visiting during Chinese New Year 2027?
Yes — big destination cities empty out as people travel home, so Beijing and Shanghai sightseeing is calmer than usual, with festive atmosphere as a bonus. The friction is transport (holiday trains sell out fast) and family-run businesses closing for a few days around New Year's Eve.
Do museums close for Chinese New Year?
Headline museums stay open on statutory holidays — Monday closures are suspended — and keep their normal advance-booking windows, such as the Forbidden City's 7-days-ahead 20:00 release. Smaller attractions may run reduced hours near the holiday.
Related guides
- China travel policy updates 2026 (timeline)
- 12306 station on-sale times: when tickets actually drop
- China Golden Week October 2026: booking deadlines
- China attraction ticket release times: the cheat sheet
- Mid-Autumn Festival 2026 for visitors
Verified September 11, 2026. Policies and booking channels change — check the official channel before you rely on it.
Official sources
- State Council 2026 holiday schedule (gov.cn, 4 Nov 2025) — pattern reference
- China Railway 12306 — presale rules
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