Cities celebrating the Year of the Rat

In 2020 the Chinese New Year – also known as the Lunar New Year or the Spring Festival – falls on Saturday, January 25 and will be followed by 15 days of celebrations marking the transition from the Year of the Pig to the Year of the Rat.

While this is a major family-oriented holiday for many Asian communities, all are welcome at the colorful parades, festive pageants and impressive fireworks displays that will take place in Hong Kong, Singapore, San Francisco, Las Vegas, New York and many other cities.

Hotels, restaurants, museums and other venues will be offering special packages and events as well to welcome travelers and “consumers who are increasingly embracing their own and others’ multi-cultural backgrounds,” said Joy Lu, assistant professor of marketing at Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business.

Here’s a sampling of celebrations we gathered first for CNBC.

Lunar New Year in New York City

Many Chinatown neighborhoods throughout New York City will host Lunar New Year events, but two of the key celebrations are the Firecracker Ceremony and Cultural Festival on January 25 and the Chinatown Lunar New Year Parade & Festival in Lower Manhattan on February 9.

The Mandarin Oriental, New York is offering a Celebrate Chinese New Year package from January 24-February 9, 2020 that includes daily breakfast for two, $50 dining or spa credit and other perks. Rates start at $745/night. The hotel will host a traditional Lion Dance in the lobby at noon on January 24(complimentary) and a special cocktail called The Jade Rat ($24) will be on the menu throughout the month in the Aviary NYC bar.

Celebrate in San Francisco or Oakland

In San Francisco, which boasts the largest Chinatown outside of Asia, the Chinese New Year Parade dates back to the 1860s. This year’s parade takes place Saturday, February 8 with elaborate floats and costumes, lion dancers and a 288-foot-long Golden Dragon carried by a team of 180 people.

The Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco, located near Chinatown, will offer a special Chinese Afternoon Tea ($80) on Sunday, January 26 and a Lunar New Year Tasting Menu ($155/per person) on January 31 and February 1, 7 and 8. On January 20, artists from Oakland’s Dragon School will begin painting a dragon-inspired mural across multiple interior and exterior hotel walls.

And the Oakland Museum of California will hold its annual Lunar New Year Celebration on Saturday and Sunday, February 8 and 9. The event is free with museum admission and includes live cultural performances, demonstrations, hands-on activities, food, traditional and contemporary music and dance, a petting zoo and more.

Lucky Lunar New Year in Las Vegas

As is their tradition, many Las Vegas venues commemorate the Chinese New Year in an over-the-top way, with decadent culinary offerings, impressive décor and lots of live entertainment.

The Las Vegas Spring Festival Parade takes place on January 25 in downtown Las Vegas as part of the Chinese New Year in the Desert festivities, with elaborate floats and costumes and dragons.

The Forum Shops inside Caesars Palace will welcome back the 22-foot-long celebratory, good-luck dragon adorned with 30,000 flickering red and amber LED lights.

From January 11 to March 7, the Bellagio Conservatory & Botanical Gardens will honor the Year of the Rat with elaborate creations made from flowers, seeds, silks and plants. In addition to a gilded gold rat sitting on gold ingot bowls, the gardens will feature four other golden rats bringing more ingot bowls up a gold staircase, as well as two 20-foot gold coin trees.

And starting January 15, the waterfall atrium between The Venetian and The Palazzo will sport a  2,000-pound, 18-foot tall golden rodent sculpture surrounded by a garden filled with red and orange bromeliads, golden yellow chrysanthemums and red and yellow orchids.

Celebrate Lunar New Year in Rhode Island. Or Dallas 

Castle Hill Inn, a Relais & Châteaux property in Rhode Island, is offering a two-night Chinese New Year Travel Package January 24 through February 2 that includes a special Cantonese-inspired Chinese New Year dinner for two, a Chinese-inspired welcome amenity, gourmet breakfast and afternoon tea. Rates start at $525+/night mid-week and $595+/night weekend, based on a two-night stay. 

And why not celebrate the Chinese New Year with skating and shopping?

From January 14 through February 8, look for a striking display of more than 250 giant red lanterns hanging over the ice-skating rink at the Galleria Dallas mall in Texas, which has the Westin Galleria Dallas on-site.

Chinese New Year in London, Hong Kong or Singapore

Major Lunar New Year celebrations will take place in a wide variety of other cities, including a parade in London’s West End on January 26; a four-day International Chinese New Year Carnival January 25-28 in Hong Kong and the Sydney Lunar Festival, January 25 to February 9, in Australia.

A wide variety of Chinese New Year events and festivals will take place in Singapore, including the Mardi Gras-inspired Chingay Parade, January 31 to February 1, with fireworks, firecrackers, laser lights, pyrotechnics and performances.

And if you do make it to Singapore to welcome the Year of the Rat, Stephen Scott, Luxury Travel Advisor at Protravel International, recommends dinner at the iconic Fullerton Hotel Singapore. In addition to a wide variety of Chinese New Year feasts being offered now through February 8, the hotel’s Jade Restaurant is serving a special edition Gold Rush Salmon Yu Sheng adorned with an image of a rat and a traditional gold coin made from white, green and pink radish strips. The dish must be ordered three days in advance and costs about $287.