If you walk through Phnom Penh in the middle of February 2026, you will notice something striking because the city is turned red. Not for Valentine’s Day, but for Chinese New Year. Red lanterns hang across shopfronts, red banners frame doorways, and red envelopes pass from elders to children. For a few days, red dominates homes, streets, and businesses, filling the city with a sense of celebration and tradition.
Chinese New Year, also known as Lunar New Year or Spring Festival, is one of the most vibrant and widely celebrated cultural festivals in Cambodia. Although it is not a national public holiday, it is celebrated widely by the Chinese-Cambodian community and many Khmer families as well. Over generations, the celebration has become an integral part of Cambodia’s multicultural identity.
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A significant number of Cambodians have Chinese ancestry. Over centuries, Chinese migrants, especially Teochew, Hokkien, Cantonese, and Hakka, settled in Cambodia through trade and business. Many families today are mixed Khmer Chinese, even if they no longer speak Chinese fluently. The heritage remains visible in surnames, food, business networks, and, most noticeably, the celebration of the Chinese New Year.
For families, the festival is first and foremost about gathering together. Relatives travel from near and far to share meals, catching up over delicious dishes like Chab Chhay soup (សម្លចាបឆាយ, Mixed vegetables Soup), fried noodles, dumplings, and Crispy Roasted Pork (ជ្រូកខ្វៃ). But the best part of the celebration for most youngsters and single people is the Ang Pao or Red Envelope, more specifically, what the cash inside it. Children and unmarried adults eagerly receive these red envelopes from elders, symbolizing good luck and prosperity for the year ahead. In theory, it is about blessings. In reality, it is also about carefully estimating which relative gives the most. For the unmarried, it is the only time of year when standing politely in front of your auntie and uncle, smiling respectfully, and waiting for money is considered perfectly good manners.
Chinese New Year here is a celebration of family, culture, and continuity, and a reminder that even as Cambodia modernizes, these centuries-old traditions remain alive and meaningful.