Shared Gratitude, Different Traditions.

The Chinese New Year season has just passed, and we spent most of it here in Glodok, observing how the celebrations unfolded from beginning to end. Here, the new year is not confined to a single day, but stretches across weeks of rituals, gatherings, and preparations. Leading up to it, homes are cleaned, ancestral altars are tended to, and temples around the neighbourhood carry out cuci rupang—bathing and redressing deity statues to mark renewal.

New Year’s Eve brings families together for reunion dinners, before they head out to the temples to offer prayers and welcome the year together. In the days that follow comes a sequence of rituals, from prayers to the Kitchen God and Jade Emperor, eating seven types of vegetables, to enjoying Lontong Cap Go Meh as the first full moon arrives to complete the season.

And from those observations, we came to realize:

No two households, even temples, celebrate the same exact way.

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Though a general order exists, each family translate and practice those traditions differently. Some go the full length with elaborate preparations and large gatherings, while others celebrate modestly. Some follow every step of the ritual calendar, while others keep only the customs that feel most accessible and meaningful to them.

Those differences never diminish the spirit of the celebration. If anything, they remind us that there are many ways to express gratitude to our ancestors and to welcome Chinese New Year. They do not have to be elaborate or complete—the smallest form of intention and action counts just the same.

Despite the differences, one thing remains the same: a shared sense of reunion, renewal, and gratitude for the year ahead. They are expressed in the rituals we do, the dinner we enjoy, the prayers we offer, the red envelopes we give, as well as the good and kind wishes we exchange to one another. For us, witnessing this season in Glodok has been a gentle reminder of what the celebration is truly about:

Beneath the festivities, it is a moment to spend time with loved ones, honor our ancestors, and welcome a new beginning together.