Chinese New Year was added to UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2024.
UNESCO’s official entry uses the more precise name “Spring festival, social practices of the Chinese people in celebration of traditional new year.” The designation recognises a broad set of customs rather than a single meal, parade, or religious ceremony.
The inscription describes practices before and during the festival, including cleaning homes, preparing food, family reunions, staying up on New Year’s Eve, making offerings, wearing new clothes, greeting elders, and holding public festivities. It also highlights how knowledge is passed through families, communities, education, and apprenticeships.
A common mix-up is treating 2024 as the year Chinese New Year began or as the date of a World Heritage listing. It was instead the year the Spring Festival social practices were inscribed on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The festival itself follows the Chinese lunisolar calendar, so its Gregorian date changes annually.