Chinese New Year Party Ideas!

A Chinese New Year party is one of the most colorful parties you could ever host. Great decorations, delicious food and fun activities guarantee that you will want to repeat this party every year!

Chinese New Year Invitations
Send your friends an elegant and personalized Chinese New Year invitation. Choose a traditional Chinese New Year design or glittering fireworks that are so popular at New Year’s celebrations in China.

If delivering your own invitations is an option, why not put the invitation on a Chinese take out food container? Attach your invitation to a set of chopsticks and include Chinatown confetti. Fill the container with fortune cookies for an extra treat. Regardless of the type of invitation you decide on, your guests will be thrilled to be invited to your party.

Red is the color for the Chinese New Year. It’s vivid and happy and tradition says that it brings the wearer a bright and sunny future. Suggest that all your guests wear red to your party – everyone will be glowing from the minute it starts!

Chinese New Year Decorations
The entrance to your party can look like a lovely Chinese garden. Place a few Chinatown dragons on the path leading to the party. Wonderful twinkle lights on bushes and trees will give your party entrance a festive look.

Wish everyone a Happy New Year with personalized Chinese New Year banner hanging over your front door. It could even say “Kung Hei Fat Choy,” Happy New Year in Cantonese. Make it extra special and include a photo of you, or a guest of honor, on it. Next to the banner, how about a dragon cutout. It is the year of the Dragon, after all!

Whatever you place on the walls, hanging paper lanterns are a must! Lanterns are festive and elegant check out these good luck lanterns. Chinese New Year Table Decorations and Menu
The hardest part about the centerpieces for a Chinese New Year Party is deciding on the one you like best. Balloons are a fun and economical way to decorate. Richly colored metallic balloons with these Chinatown centerpieces mixed in are great on any table.

Flowers always look fabulous on a table and vases of flowers are often used as centerpieces for Chinese New Year’s celebrations. Peonies, azaleas, narcissus, water lilies or any type of beautiful blossom are a wonderful decorating addition.

If you want a more elegant look, use the Chinatown centerpieces with flickering tea lights in them. Or choose an Asian Gong centerpiece that is perfect for any Chinese New Year's party. Surround your centerpieces with votive candles that have Chinese symbols on them. Place them all on a glass tray and the table will sparkle.

The Chinese New Year is all about lots of food and family. If you like to cook, make chicken, fish and noodle dishes. There is meaning behind every food – noodles for longevity, lettuce for prosperity, oranges and tangerines for abundant happiness. Consult a Chinese cookbook to find out the meaning of more foods.

In case you don’t want to spend your time cooking, call a local Chinese restaurant. No matter what you choose, be sure to order a lot since everyone will gobble it up. Needless to say dessert will have to be fortune cookies. Even though they were invented in California, fortune cookies are a favorite with everyone. You can purchase them at a store but why not surprise your guests with custom created fortune cookies from Party411.com. Contact Party411.com directly to create these delicious treats. Imagine the laughter as when everyone learns about the future (courtesy of you).

Chinese New Year Activities
It’s tradition to write positive words such as health, prosperity or good luck on red paper scrolls and place them around the room. Provide supplies for your guests to write their own messages as they enter the party. It’s another fun and easy way to decorate the room. In the Chinese tradition, there is an animal with distinctive characteristics that corresponds to every year for the last 100 years. People born in 1905, 1917, 1929, 1941, 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001 and 2013 were born under the sign of the Snake. The placemat says "Wise and intense with a tendancy towards physical beauty, vain and high tempered.  The Boar is your enemy.  The Cock or Ox are your best signs." Celebrities such as Ryan O'Neal, Picasso, Oprah Winfrey and Sara Jessica Parker were born under the sign of the Snake.

Make a list of the 12 signs of the zodiac and the qualities that go with each one and have everyone guess which sign he/she falls under. Or better yet, pair everyone up and let him/her decide what category is the best one. Laughter will fill the room as everyone tries to figure it out.

The Lantern Festival is always held on the last day of the Chinese New Year. The highlight of the festival is the Dragon Dance. Create your own dragon dance with a great hanging dragon or a 6' tissue dragon. This will have your guests dancing all over the room.

Chinese New Year Party Favors
Your guests can leave your party with more than just hope for a happy new year. It’s a Chinese tradition to give close friends and family crisp $1 bills in red envelopes as a symbol of good fortune in the coming year. Passing out cash might get expensive so why not let Party411.com create your own personalized money. With a picture of you on these greenbacks, everyone will remember your party long after it’s over.  It would be great to put the money in a Gold Favor box or a Chinese money holder.

Candy is almost as sweet as cash! Hand out a fun Chinese New Year candy bar wrapper personalized for your party. In milk or dark chocolate, it’s a delicious and sweet souvenir.

You can use Chinese food container boxes, then fill them with your favors. Add a few fortune cookies, Chinese fans and you'll are set!

Another idea is to fill a bag with memory booklets, fortune cookies and candy purchased from local Chinese grocery store.

The Chinese New Year is a great excuse to have a party! Your guests will be so delighted with this unique theme they’ll want to know when you’re having another party. Let Party411.com help you will all your parties and your guaranteed success every time.