Time to gather with your loved ones and feast on fish, fruit, and dumplings to welcome the Lunar New Year.
Which U.S. cities are best for ringing in the Year of the Rabbit?
To find out, Lawn Love ranked the 200 biggest U.S. cities to determine 2023’s Best Cities for Lunar New Year Celebrations.
We looked for cities with a large Asian American population, plenty of Asian restaurants, and numerous Lunar New Year festivals and events. We awarded bonus points to cities with a Chinatown district.
We also considered weather forecasts, fireworks legality, and safety, among 11 total metrics.
Set your best foot forward for the Lunar New Year (beginning Jan. 22) with the help of our rankings below.
In this article
City rankings
See how each city fared in our ranking:
The upshot
New Year in New York
For the second year in a row, New York lucks out as the Best City to Celebrate Lunar New Year.
Home to a whopping nine Chinatown neighborhoods, NYC has the largest population of Chinese and Chinese Americans out of all the cities in our ranking. Paint the town red in Manhattan’s Chinatown, which has the largest concentration of Chinese people in America (and all of the Western hemisphere).
There’s always something going on in The City That Never Sleeps, especially around holidays like the Spring Festival. NYC has the highest number of Chinese and Asian Meetup groups and the third-highest number of Lunar New Year events and festivals.
All that glitters is not gold
Out of 43 California cities represented, only 11 landed in the lower half of our ranking. It’s no surprise California cities fared so well — Asian communities have played a significant role in building the West Coast since the Gold Rush.
This year, San Francisco (No. 2) has the most Lunar New Year events — tied with Houston — and the highest concentration of Asian restaurants. SF also has the second-biggest population of Chinese Americans, while Los Angeles (No. 3) has the nation’s largest population of other East Asians.
Unfortunately, neither of these cities has a great safety record, especially for Asian Americans. Anti-Asian violence has plagued California and escalated since COVID-19 began. Hate crimes against Asian Americans in California rose 178% in 2021.
Today, many cities along the West Coast, including Seattle (No. 8) and 19 California cities, have high rates of hate crimes. For a safer celebration destination, head down to San Diego (No. 10).
Fortune frowns
Some cities in the South and Midwest aren’t ready to ring in the Year of the Rabbit.
Apart from Chicago (No. 6), only two other Midwestern cities — Cleveland (No. 61) and St. Louis (No. 84) — landed in the top half of our ranking.
Other cities like Kansas City, Kansas; Little Rock, Arkansas; and Shreveport, Louisiana, fell to the very bottom, alongside Springfield, Missouri, in last place. Each of these four cities has low scores across the board, with few or no celebrations planned and poor safety records.
Southern cities are scattered throughout our ranking. For memorable Lunar New Year celebrations, places like Houston (No. 4) and Austin (No. 9) are your best bet. These two Texas cities have large populations of Asian Americans and plenty of festivals and events to attend.
Expert take
What distinguishes Lunar New Year celebrations from other New Year festivities?
We turned to a panel of experts to gift us with their wisdom about this holiday and what our luck might look like for the coming year.
- It’s the Year of the Water Rabbit. What does that mean for babies born this year?
- How should Rabbits be cautious this year, which could bring them bad luck? What will bring them good luck?
- What is one iconic dish everyone should try at a traditional Lunar New Year festival?
- What is the best way to ring in the Lunar New Year?
- What are your three best tips for maximizing good luck in the new year?
Ask The Experts
It’s the Year of the Water Rabbit. What does that mean for babies born this year?
Like babies born in other years, babies born this year will fill their life with wonders, surprises, happiness, and challenges. There will be opportunities and life lessons from which they can learn, grow, and thrive. They should consider taking classes at Austin Community College to better themselves when the time comes.
How should Rabbits be cautious this year, which could bring them bad luck? What will bring them good luck?
Hard work and good decision-making are the foundation of good luck regardless of what your zodiac sign is.
What is one iconic dish everyone should try at a traditional Lunar New Year festival?
Dumplings (Northern China) and Hot pot
What is the best way to ring in the Lunar New Year?
- Spring clean your home.
- Decorate your home and office.
- Dress nice to visit friends and family.
What are your three best tips for maximizing good luck in the new year?
- Work hard
- Make good decisions
- Be a good person
It’s the Year of the Water Rabbit. What does that mean for babies born this year?
Babies born this year are a big blessing for their families. They’re supposed to be calm, peaceful, sensitive, kind, compassionate, smart, and ambitious according to the Chinese Zodiac. They should also do well in life.
How should Rabbits be cautious this year, which could bring them bad luck? What will bring them good luck?
People born in the years of the Rabbit might face some challenges this year in Chinese culture. But a few precautions could make this year smoother and easier. It’s suggested that they don’t travel too far to avoid unexpected troubles or accidents and to make rational decisions instead of ones based on emotions. To bring good luck, they can wear a red or silver string or jade beads around the neck or wrist, or wear a red rope as a belt. In traditional Chinese culture, red and silver colors, as well as jade are believed to drive evil spirits away to bring good luck.
What is one iconic dish everyone should try at a traditional Lunar New Year festival?
Dumplings. They’re not only delicious but symbolize wealth and prosperity.
What is the best way to ring in the Lunar New Year?
Spend it together with your families, friends, and communities. This involves engaging in traditions and customs, such as: enjoying a big feast with traditional food on New Year’s Eve, putting up decorations of red items like lanterns and posters with good wishes, shooting off fireworks to scare away evil spirits, giving red packets of lucky money to children, watching lion and dragon dances and participating in a Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the Lunar New Year to mark the end of the celebration.
What are your three best tips for maximizing good luck in the new year?
1. Paste Spring Festival couplets on both sides of the door for blessings and hang a Fu (happiness) character on the wall to bring happiness.
2. Always keep your kitchen clean, and also make sure your refrigerator and rice container is always full. This will mean you’ll have plenty to eat.
3. Stay positive and hopeful.
What is one iconic dish everyone should try at a traditional Chinese New Year festival?
Without a doubt, the answer is dumplings (sometimes called potstickers or jiaozi, in Chinese). They’re usually filled with meat and vegetables, but there are also fish and vegetarian varieties as well. It’s easy to make so-so ones, but to get them right requires years of training.
I once spent an entire year of Saturdays visiting a Chinese family in Beijing, the home of great dumplings. They resolved to teach me to make them, but by the end of the year I’d never gotten past the first step—mixing the dough. It really is challenging to get it all right.
What is the best way to ring in the Lunar New Year?
Sharing a meal with people you love.
What are your three best tips for maximizing good luck in the new year?
1. Be kind to others, it’s contagious.
2. Try to see things the way other people see them.
3. Remember to take care of yourself.
What is one iconic dish everyone should try at a traditional Chinese New Year festival?
For someone raised in northern China as I was, folks normally eat the Chinese dumpling called Jiaozi. The fillings are normally a mixture of vegetables and pork or beef wrapped with wrappers made of dough.
What is the best way to ring in the Lunar New Year?
The best way to ring in the Lunar New Year is to stay safe and healthy. Clean the house, make things tidy, and be environment friendly.
What are your three best tips for maximizing good luck in the new year?
To maximize good luck, a person should have a low profile, make life simpler, and know what really matters in life.
Behind the ranking
For each of the 200 biggest U.S. cities, we gathered publicly available data on the factors listed in the table below.
We then grouped those factors into four categories: Community, Celebration, Safety, and Weather.
Next, we calculated weighted scores for each city in each category.
Finally, we averaged the scores for each city across all categories.
The city that earned the highest average score was ranked “Best” (No. 1), while the city with the lowest was ranked “Worst” (No. 200). (Note: The “Worst” among individual factors may not be 200 due to ties among cities.)
Sources*
AccuWeather, Allevents.in, American Pyrotechnics Association, Federal Bureau of Investigation, NeighborhoodScout, Meetup, TripAdvisor, and U.S. Census Bureau
*Chinatowns data obtained from various sources (available upon request)
Hop into the new year
Throughout East Asia and beyond, the Lunar New Year is a time to reunite with loved ones and welcome the new year.
“Chunyun,” or the travel rush in China leading up to the Spring Festival, is the world’s largest annual human migration. With travel restrictions beginning to ease, China’s anticipating 2.1 billion passenger trips this year — an increase of 99.5% from 2022.
If you’re traveling to see family in the U.S., keep an eye out for flight layovers and delays.
You don’t have to be Asian or Asian American to celebrate the Lunar New Year — anyone can join in on the festivities. However, your experience will be more meaningful if you understand the culture, history, and customs behind the holiday.
Here are a few of the nation’s most festive spots to visit during the Lunar New Year:
Photo Credit: Patrick Kwan / Flickr / CC BY 2.0
Photo Credit: Sharon Mollerus / Flickr / CC BY 2.0
Photo Credit: Charlie Marchant / Flickr / CC BY 2.0
Photo Credit: Tomás Del Coro / Flickr / CC BY-SA 2.0
Happy Lunar New Year!
Mowing your lawn during Lunar New Year can bring bad luck. For good fortune the rest of the year, hire a local Lawn Love pro to help clean up your yard after Feb. 5.
Main photo credit: iStock
