Chinese New Year 2027 falls on Saturday, February 6, and for about a week Shanghai empties out as millions head home.
Chinese New Year 2027 lands on Saturday, February 6, with the big family reunion dinner the night before, on February 5. Expect a public holiday of roughly a week, though the exact 2027 dates are only fixed by the State Council each November. During it, small independent shops, wet markets, many restaurants, couriers and your ayi go quiet, while the metro, hospitals, malls and chain supermarkets keep running on lighter hours.
Good to know
- When: New Year's Eve is February 5, 2027, New Year's Day February 6. It is the Year of the Goat.
- How long the city slows: roughly a week, with the quietest stretch from the eve through the first three or four days.
- The one thing to sort now: if you are travelling, book trains and flights the moment they open, about 15 days ahead for rail.
- If you stay: stock a few days of groceries before the eve, and expect deliveries to lag for a week after.
When Chinese New Year 2027 falls, and how long Shanghai actually stops
Chinese New Year 2027 in Shanghai begins with the reunion dinner (年夜饭) on the eve, February 5, and the first day of the Year of the Goat on February 6. The national holiday usually runs seven to eight days around that, but the precise arrangement, including the couple of weekends worked to bridge it (调休), is published by the State Council around mid-November, so treat any earlier date chart as provisional. What matters more than the official days is the mood: the city starts emptying a few days before the eve as millions leave for their hometowns, and it feels genuinely still from the eve through about the fourth day.
This is not a Golden Week where everything roars on. It is the one week a year when Shanghai actually exhales. For the wider calendar and the make-up workdays, our guide to China's public holidays tracks each year's arrangement as it is announced.
The pattern is simple once you see it: anything run by one family closes, anything run by a company stays open. So your corner noodle place and your ayi vanish for a week or two, but Metro, Family Mart, the malls and the big supermarkets keep the lights on.
Should you travel over Chinese New Year, or stay in Shanghai?
Travelling over Chinese New Year means joining chunyun (春运), the 40-day migration that ran to roughly nine billion trips in 2026, with rail the tightest choke point. If you want to go somewhere, book the day tickets release: China rail opens seats about 15 days out (see how to book on 12306 in English), and popular routes sell out in minutes. Domestic flights swing hard too, often ¥1,500 to ¥3,000 (about USD 220 to 450) one way on the busy days, so set a fare alert early through our domestic flight guide.
Here is the quiet upside nobody mentions: staying put can be the better trip. Shanghai hotels drop their rates as the city empties, traffic disappears, and the usual queues at museums and restaurants that stay open melt away. If the cold is the problem, a short winter escape or a hot spring nearby beats fighting the whole country for a train seat.
If you stay: what Shanghai is actually like over the holiday
Staying in Shanghai over Spring Festival gives you a rare, calm version of the city, with a few things to plan around. Small restaurants shut, so book a table at a hotel or mall spot in advance, or lean on hotpot and chains that stay open when the delivery apps thin out. Fireworks are banned inside the outer ring, so the bang you hear is distant and legal only well out of the centre. The real theatre is at the temples: Longhua Temple and Jing'an Temple draw huge first-incense crowds on the eve and first day, and the City God Temple by Yu Garden runs its lantern displays into the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day. Go early, expect queues, and keep your phone charged for the ride home.
The gifts, red envelopes and dinner etiquette, quickly
If a Shanghai colleague or friend invites you home for the reunion, the etiquette is warm and forgiving, but a little prep goes a long way. Bring a good gift and know the traps first: clocks and pears are quietly unwelcome. If children or unmarried younger people are there, a red envelope is the norm, and the right amount is its own small art, covered in how much to put in a hongbao. And when you sit down at the table, our Chinese dinner etiquette guide covers the toasts and the seating so you can relax and enjoy it.
When is Chinese New Year 2027 in Shanghai?
Chinese New Year 2027 falls on Saturday, February 6, with the reunion dinner on the eve, February 5. It opens the Year of the Goat. The national public holiday runs about a week around it, and the exact 2027 dates, including the make-up workdays, are confirmed by the State Council around mid-November 2026.
Is Shanghai empty during Chinese New Year?
Shanghai quiets down noticeably rather than shutting completely. Millions of residents leave for their hometowns, so traffic, queues and small neighbourhood businesses thin out for about a week. The metro, hospitals, malls, chain supermarkets, museums and temples all stay open, so the city is calm and very walkable, not closed.
Will restaurants and delivery work over Spring Festival in Shanghai?
Many small independent restaurants and cafes close for a week or two while staff travel home, and courier and food delivery slow down or pause around the eve and first days. Hotel restaurants, mall food courts, hotpot spots and chains stay open. Stock a few days of groceries before the eve and expect a delivery backlog for about a week after.
Can I set off fireworks in Shanghai for Chinese New Year?
No, personal fireworks and firecrackers are banned inside Shanghai's outer ring road, and the ban is enforced. Setting them off is only legal in designated areas well outside the central districts. In the city you will hear the odd distant bang, but the celebration downtown is lanterns, temple visits and family dinners, not fireworks.
Sources · 资料来源
- The State Council of the People's Republic of China (中华人民共和国国务院). Annual public holiday arrangement notices (节假日安排通知), which set the exact Spring Festival dates each November. gov.cn
- China State Railway Group (中国国家铁路集团 · 12306). Chunyun (春运) travel-period figures and the 15-day advance ticket-release window. 12306.cn
- Shanghai Municipal Government (上海市人民政府). Outer-ring fireworks and firecracker ban. shanghai.gov.cn
As the Book of Rites has it, 凡事预则立，不预则废, plan ahead and you stand, leave it to chance and you fall. A week of quiet is a gift only if you have stocked the fridge and booked the seat.
Words, maps and research by the Choice Shanghai team. Please credit us and tag our 公众号 if you share.
