How to Say ‘Celebrate the New Year’ in Simplified Chinese
过年
guò nián
[gwoh-nyen]
💬 Usage Tip: 过年 literally means "pass/spend the New Year," and Chinese often uses 过 with holidays or time periods this way. You can reuse the pattern in phrases like 过节 for "celebrate a festival."
🇨🇳 In China: 过年 usually points to the Spring Festival period, not January 1. In everyday Chinese, when people say 过年, they normally mean Lunar New Year.
Phrase Breakdown
过年
guò nián
[gwoh-nyen]
to celebrate the New Year (Chinese New Year); to spend the New Year holiday
Commonly used for celebrating Chinese New Year—visiting family, eating festive food, giving red envelopes, etc.
我们回老家过年，和爷爷奶奶团聚。
We go back to our hometown for Chinese New Year to reunite with Grandpa and Grandma.
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