Each year, the Chinese New Year festivities attract crowds of curious onlookers. Many of Paris’s districts are colourfully decorated, and parades, events and exhibitions are organized throughout the city. In 2024, Chinese New Year – also called Lunar New Year, Spring Festival or, by the Vietnamese, Têt Holiday – starts on Saturday 10 February and marks the start of the year of the Wood Dragon.
© Studio TTG
Chinese New Year is an opportunity to highlight the Asian cultures that celebrate it. To perpetuate this tradition, the Chinese cultural centre offers a rich and well thought out programme. The UGVF (General Union of Vietnamese in France) is also organising festivities, including a big celebration (market, show, special events, evening with dancing …) on 2 February 2024 at the Baltard Pavilion, at Nogent-sur-Marne.
The traditional Parisian parade is organised on Sunday 18 February 2024. The departure is between 1 and 2 pm. An event to be experienced in the streets of the 13th arrondissement between Avenue de Choisy, Porte de Choisy and Avenue d'Ivry. On the programme: traditional music and costumes, cymbals, drums, tigers and colourful dragons and good humour.
Other parades are planned :
The online guide PARISCOSMOP references news, restaurants, good deals and shopping addresses in Paris according to country... without leaving the capital. China, South Korea and Asia in general have a place of choice.
The Cernuschi Museum and the Guimet Museum are the two major Parisian museums whose collections are devoted to Asian arts. These two major cultural venues offer several special events for the Chinese New Year.
Go along to the Musée Cernuschi on Saturday 10 February 2024 for a family puppet show. From 9 to 21 February 2024 at the Musée Guimet: projection on the facade of the museum in the colours of the dragon (from 9 to 11 February 2024 from 5pm), Chinese painting workshop on 10 and 11 February (from 10.15am to 12.45pm and from 2pm to 4.30pm), storytelling visit ‘Les petites frayeurs du démon Nian’ (Saturday 10 February 2024 at 2.15pm, 3.15pm and 4.15pm), show ‘The Lion Dance’ on Saturday 10 February 2024 at 3pm and 4pm and an exceptional ‘Lunar New Year’ evening on 21 February 2024 from 7pm.
The Cité de l’Architecture et du patrimoine is planning an exceptional day to celebrate the Chinese New Year in Paris, on Saturday 10 February 2024. On the programme: Chinese dragon creation workshop, mural painting workshop, screening of Chinese animated films and artists' performances. From 2pm to 7pm in the different spaces of the Cité.
For the first time in Paris and France, the Jardin d'Acclimatation is presenting the Shanghai Dragons and Lanterns festival, running until 25 February 2024. Every evening, the public is invited to discover a luminous, magical and cultural journey of more than 1,000 lanterns, created by the craftsmen of the famous "Shanghai Yuyuan" garden. The programme includes four shows each evening, a traditional market and special entertainment to mark Chinese New Year on 10 and 11 February 2024, from 2pm to 4.30pm: Lion dances, musical performances, folk dances, workshops and activities (calligraphy, tea tasting, lantern making, etc.).
Finally, until March 10, 2024, Thoiry ZooSafari presents its annual Thoiry Lumières Sauvages festival: one hundred or so enchanting light sculptures some of which are a tribute to Asia.
© Créatividie Élodie Gutbrod
Explore Paris, the well-known organizer of fascinating guided walks in Paris and the wider Paris region, offers various excursions centred on Paris’s rich Asian culture, such as the "Lunch or dinner tour in the heart of Belleville's Chinese quarter". But also, let yourself be tempted by the visit for children, Little Dragons of Chinatown, discovering the legends and beliefs in the heart of the Indochinatown of Paris.... An excellent way to lift the veil on the treasures contained in these districts. TheWaysBeyond and Le Vrai Paris also offer thematic and gourmet walks around China and Asia in Paris: "Welcome to China, in Paris", "The 13th arrondissement - From the Butte-aux-Cailles district to Indochinatown"...
© Studio TTG
Just walking through the streets Paris, you’ll come across some unusual edifices that look as though they’ve come straight from China.
At 48 rue de Courcelles in the 8th arrondissement, Mr Loo’s pagoda stands out from its surroundings. Although the museum it houses is currently closed, the building itself is worth the detour for its architecture. The same is true for the former pavilions of the 1931 Colonial Exhibition at Vincennes, which have been transformed into a pagoda. Today it is home to the largest Buddha in Europe, the International Buddhist Institute and the French Buddhist Union.
And in the 13th arrondissement, at Place Augusta Holmes, don’t be surprised to see parts of a dragon emerging from the pavement! This work of art by Chen Zen and Xu Min is called The Dance of the Emerging Fountain.
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Typical dishes prepared for this special occasion include longevity noodles (the longer the noodles, the longer the life), dumplings, Lok Ba Go (Chinese turnip cake) and Bánh chưng (Vietnamese square sticky rice cake). Get a taste of Asia without leaving Paris – numerous restaurants are operating a click & collect or home delivery service.
Our recommendations include Mirama (17 rue Saint-Jacques, 75005) for their Peking duck, Les Pâtes Vivantes (46 rue du Faubourg Montmartre, 75009) for typical noodles, La Pâtisserie de Choisy (62 avenue de Choisy, 75013) for cakes and desserts, Gros Bao (72 quai de Jemmapes, 75010) for piping hot steamed buns, the Tse Yang restaurant (25 avenue Pierre 1er de Serbie, 75016) for their promotion of Chinese gastronomy and Panda Panda (21 rue Juliette Dodu, 75010) or 21g-Dumpling (167 rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine, 75011) for their excellent dim sum.
The gourmet restaurant Lili - located in The Peninsula Paris - is offering a special Chinese New Year menu to be enjoyed only on 9 February 2024 for dinner from 6.30pm onwards and a Chinese New Year brunch on 10 February 2024 from midday to 2pm.
Another palace, the Shangri-La, is putting on a great spread to duly celebrate this New Lunar Year. The Parisian palace’s two restaurants are offering special menus. Firstly, the exceptional menu at the Shang Palace, available for dinner only from Friday 2 to Sunday 11 February 2024. At the Bauhinia, a celebratory gastronomic brunch is proposed on Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 February 2024, with something sweet and delicious from Maxence Barbot. The unmissable Lion Dance - mini parade in the palace itself – is also part of the planned celebrations at the Shangri-La.
And don’t hesitate to step into a local restaurant where there are plenty of great dishes to enjoy!
For an immersive cultural experience, shop for some specialities at one of the Tang brothers’ Asian supermarkets, then stop for refreshment at the Maison des Trois Thés (1 rue Saint-Médard, 75005) before dropping into the attractive Le Phénix bookshop (72 boulevard de Sébastopol), which specializes in Asian and Chinese literature.
© Daniel Thierry
A Forbidden City a stone’s throw from Paris? The Huatian Chinagora Hotel in Alfortville (1 place du Confluent-France-Chine, 94) will come as a surprise. This five-building complex, comprising a luxury hotel, a restaurant with a panoramic view, and reception rooms, is the work of Cantonese architect Liang Kunhao. Again, this year, special menus, a fireworks display and a show of dance are on the programme.
At Saint-Rémy-l’Honoré, in the Yvelines, the Yili garden is the first traditional Chinese garden to be created in France. Set in six hectares, its design incorporates the principles of yin and yang and architectural elements made from noble materials imported from China. Quieten your mind with a zen moment – a great way to begin the year of the Wood Dragon!