This year’s Chinese New Year has left mainland residents feeling an unusually quiet atmosphere. Big cities like Beijing and Shanghai are deserted, and many people returning to their hometowns for the holiday have remarked that even the rural areas are not as lively as in previous years, appearing deserted as well. With China’s economy slowing down, consumer downgrade is making the festive spirit fade, leading to increased pressure on people during the New Year. Analysts believe that this is a result of significant changes in Chinese customs over the past few decades.
On January 28, 2025 (New Year’s Eve), a blogger posted a video showing the eerily quiet streets of Beijing on the eve of the Lunar New Year.
Another blogger said it was her first time spending the New Year in Shanghai and she was surprised by how quiet it was.
She said: “Today, let me show you the streets of Shanghai. It’s really quiet, bustling roads suddenly became quiet, the streets became empty. In a daze, it feels like the end of the year is approaching. About 80% of Shanghai residents are from other places, and they have gone back home for the New Year. At this moment, except for those who can’t go home or don’t want to go home, the rest are the locals of Shanghai.”
However, even those returning to their hometowns for the holiday have noted that the rural areas during Chinese New Year are equally silent.
One blogger expressed, “The countryside during the New Year is so boring, you can’t see many pedestrians outside. The streets are deserted, there are no children to be seen. Neighbors who are at home don’t visit each other, they don’t go out much, the whole village is very quiet. Moreover, it’s difficult to move around without a car here, you have to drive for twenty minutes to buy groceries at the town, which lacks tall buildings, malls, entertainment facilities; it’s a barren area. If you want to go to the cinema, you have to drive more than forty minutes to the city. If you were to stay here, would you be willing?”
Another man who returned to his hometown mentioned that during the 2025 New Year, the shortcomings of the rural areas were fully exposed, as luxury cars were nowhere to be seen in the village.
He said, “Today is New Year, the eve, there’s only an hour left before the reunion dinner, look at how quiet our village is, you can’t even hear firecrackers, you can’t even see a person, it’s so silent. Where is the New Year atmosphere? Looking around, you can’t see a single fancy car, it’s really too quiet. This doesn’t seem like celebrating the New Year, it feels no different from any other day. It’s not enjoyable to celebrate New Year anymore, not many people are coming back to the countryside, especially this year, very few people have returned. In previous years, many people in our village would return, fireworks would be non-stop, luxury cars would be back, it was quite prestigious. But maybe people now understand, they don’t care about those superficial things, it’s about living well for themselves. As long as you are healthy, that’s the best.”
However, a video blogger mentioned that Shanghai, Dongguan, Shenzhen all seemed quiet, except for Guangzhou and Foshan, where the New Year atmosphere was full, and the Guangzhou flower market was bustling with people, as if no one had left from outside.
For Chinese people, the New Year was originally a festive and reunion holiday, but in recent years, more and more young people have felt immense pressure during this traditional festival.
Actually, half a month before the New Year, many mainland Chinese believed that this year’s New Year would be the quietest in history. Many people have expressed that earning money is not easy, and they need to spend the New Year rationally. On social media, many young netizens have complained about the New Year expenses, job uncertainties, expectations from elders, making the New Year a difficult time. Many have already given up on major spending, and even the stores selling New Year goods seem unusually quiet.
Voice of America reported on January 28 that there is a new trend among young Chinese people to reduce New Year spending. Professor Sun Guoxiang from the Department of International Affairs and Business at Nanhua University, Taiwan, said that this change is influenced by various factors, with economic pressure undoubtedly being a key reason. The downward economy has led to a decrease in spending power, causing young people to focus more on rational spending and practical needs, reducing the more costly aspects of New Year customs. Another aspect is avoiding going back home, spending the New Year locally has become a new choice in response to economic pressures.
Sun Guoxiang pointed out that traditional activities of buying New Year goods, visiting relatives and friends, and giving red envelopes during the New Year have been gradually simplified, even omitted, due to high costs and psychological burdens.
Traditionally, Chinese New Year has always been filled with joy and laughter, with people rushing back to their hometowns to visit family and friends, exchanging New Year greetings. Even young people working away from home take this opportunity to return and show filial piety. However, over the past two to three decades, these customs have quietly changed.
A post circulating on social media mentioned, “To what extent can comparisons and jealousy be taken seriously in today’s rural areas during the New Year? When returning to the hometown during the New Year, cigarettes cost at least fifty yuan, alcohol starts at three hundred yuan, and even winning or losing in card games involves several hundred yuan. After working hard all year and finally saving some money, it’s all spent in just seven days of the New Year. Some people want to show off in front of the villagers, so they spend sixty to seventy thousand to build a small Western-style house in a remote county town, dozens of miles away from their ancestral home, buy a car worth over a hundred thousand yuan, only to visit a few times during the New Year. Is your whole life lived just to gain the respect of those few people you rarely see in your village?”
A woman in a video said she felt that this year’s New Year lacked atmosphere, and it has become all about showing off during the holiday. She finds it bothersome to see people flaunting and comparing themselves constantly, making it hard to enjoy the celebrations. She reminisced about the carefree childhood New Year celebrations, where getting up early at three or four in the morning, dressing up, and waiting eagerly for red envelopes from parents were the highlights.
A young man in a video mentioned, “I don’t want to go back home for the New Year, not because my family is bad, but because I’ve been on my own for a long time and have gotten used to it. Returning home to the hustle and bustle of family and dealing with relatives and New Year greetings is not relaxing at all.”
He shared that the most frustrating part is meeting those relatives just once a year, where they compare each other, subtly inquiring about each other’s income. With already tiring work, not being able to relax even during the New Year, he finds it better to take advantage of these days to rest properly.
Current Affairs commentator Li Lin told The Epoch Times that in traditional Chinese culture, the New Year celebrations used to begin with worshiping the gods, followed by honoring ancestors, greeting elders at home, and exchanging New Year greetings with friends. However, after the Communist Party came to power in 1949, the Chinese New Year, a traditional Chinese festival, was transformed into an opportunity for the Party to brainwash the people and instill Party culture. The Party’s Spring Festival Gala sings about topics related to its ideology, and the standards have become increasingly vulgar. The essence of celebrating the New Year for thousands of years has been destroyed by the Chinese Communist Party, under such circumstances, the traditional Chinese “New Year” has transformed, which is not surprising.