Happy New Year! No, not that one, happy Chinese Lunar New Year.
Celebrated by more than two billion people in China and diaspora across the world, this year, it’s a major event that begins on February 1 and continues for a fortnight, marked with plenty of feasting, dancing and of course, present giving.
It also goes by chunjie, or the Spring Festival - welcome news for anyone who’s had it up to here with winter (show of hands please?).
The years are marked by various animals, and this year it’s the turn of the tiger, the third creature in the Chinese zodiac.
London usually celebrates the event with a parade running from Charing Cross down to Trafalgar Square and plenty of revelry in the capital’s Chinatown, but plans are still uncertain this year in the wake of the pandemic.
While gifts usually take the form of cash tucked inside a lucky red envelope, major fashion houses and luxury brands have created limited edition products to mark the occasion.
We’ve rounded up the best present ideas to help you have a fantastic Lunar New Year.
Check out our edit below
F&M The Lunar New Year Hamper
Six luxe gourmet treats delivered in a honey-hued wicker basket - yes, it could only by F&M. The royal grocer is commemorating the incoming Lunar New Year with a basket filled 0 per cent ABC Rose Sparkling Tea, a caddy of celebration tea, pistachios covered to dark chocolate, a limited edition Lunar New Year biscuit selection, champagne truffles and a tin of Gingerlossus biscuits in a Year of the Tiger design.
Buy now £150.00, F&M
M&S Year of the Tiger Box
With so many parties to celebrate a fresh year, you may not feel like cooking for every one of them. M&S rides to the rescue with its banquet-style Year of the Tiger Box. It’s a glorious feast of spicy Kung Po chicken and Singapore noodles, plus chicken in black bean sauce, egg fried rice and four vegetable spring rolls - all for just £10.
The high street favourite is also doing cute plant-based panda-themed buns, stuffed with sweet and sticky hoisin mushrooms, £2.75 and there is a 18 piece dim sum selection to salivate over too, £8.25.
All are available in-store, find your nearest M&S Foodhall here.
M&S also has a Lunar New Year gift bag that’s made for giving hosts of your party, £30. It contains a tin of luxury tea bags, chocolate coins, a candle and a red kalanchoe, all parcelled in an auspicious red and gold gift bag.
Buy now, M&S
Ladurée Chinese New Year macarons
Sweet things always go down a storm on special occasions, and French pastry house Laduree has something very special up its sleeve this year. It has launched a limited edition bright red keepsake boxes filled with eight of its delectable macarons – the perfect offering for this auspicious time. Get them online from January 24 January to February 16.
Buy now £36.00, Ladurée
Yauatcha Pineapple Pastries
Celebrated London restaurant Yauatcha has designed its own take on traditional Pineapple Pastries, available in both Yauatcha City and Yauatcha Soho to pick up, and for nationwide delivery via Slerp. The sharp and fruity pastries are filled with diced pineapple and finished fittingly with a tiger printed into red chocolate. Order a box to share at your NY parties.
Buy now, Slerp
Mariage Frères Tigre Tea
Tea, and tea ceremonies, are a big part of Chinese culture. Luxury French tea brand Mariage Frères is giving your cuppa a celebratory edge with a newly launched tea blend for the Year of the Tiger.
Housed in a bright pink tin, Tigre is a black tea with golden tips and notes of cedar, pine needle balm and a burst of sunny bergamot. Ingredients also include Tibetan goji berries (a mainstay across the whole Thé Des Signes range) which add a full and energising fruity note while also being rich in antioxidants.
Buy now £26.00, Mariage Frères
Saicho Eight Immortals
Using leaves plucked from the fertile Phoenix Mountain in China, this is a tea - but not as you know it. After a light roasting, the tea has been transformed into a ready to drink beverage that works beautifully with soft cheeses as well as delicately spiced dishes like harissa roasted squash. You can just as easily enjoy it on its own though, relishing the notes of tangerine, mango, ginger and sweet baking spices. As for gifting - well, it certainly looks the part.
Buy now £32.99, Saicho Drinks
Johnnie Walker Blue Label Year of the Tiger Limited Edition
The whisky label has released a Blue Label bottle in celebration of the Chinese New Year. The Tiger is rendered on the gift box by award-winning Chinese artist Shan Jiang, and stands out majestically in gold against the dark background. The bottle too, is covered in illustrations, singling it out as a collector’s item for true whisky fans.
Buy now £190.00, The Whisky Exchange
Glenfiddich 21 Year Old Reserva Rum Cask Finish - Chinese New Year Edition 2022
Whisky sales are booming in East Asia, with Scotch in particular taking the lead. Glenfiddich is paying tribute to its drinkers with a Year of the Tiger edition of it’s 21 year old whisky, which comes ready to give in a fiery-coloured presentation box designed by artist Rion Wang.
The whisky brand has also partnerd with NFT marketplace BlockBar to release 200 Chinese New Year NFTs on February 1 directly to consumers.
Buy now £164.95, Master of Malt
Krispy Kreme Year of the Tiger Doughnut Dozen
In a UK first, US doughnut brand Krispy Kreme has created a celebratory Year of the Tiger Doughnut Dozen to share with friends and family for the event. The selection of ring and filled confections are all dressed up with tiger-style icing - think stripes and lots of caramel and orange colours.
Pre-order from January 2 to get the dozen selection sent to your door between January 28 and February 2.
Buy now £14.45, Krispy Kreme
Our Place Always Pan
Conscious kitchen brand Our Place is marking the new year by adding six limited edition red envelopes into its collection of pots and pans. The envelopes, which should be stuffed with money, are a symbol of good luck and fortune, and Our Place’s have been designed by Chinese artist Vanilla Chi, making them extra special.
Big occasions like these are all about gathering friends and family around the table, and Our Place’s versatile, game-changing pots (£140) and pans (£125), which come in various colours, make preparing a feast that much easier.
Buy now £125.00, Our Place
Aspinal Chinese New Year Keyring
The luxury London label is paying tribute to the moment with a tiger-shaped key ring to bring good luck and fortune to your.. erm, keys. Made from the full-grain leather, the bold design is slightly padded and finished with a branded split-ring. Equal parts fierce and fabulous.
Buy now £45.00, Aspinal of London
Rouge Dior Lunar New Year Limited Edition Gift Set
Roar into the new year with Dior’s limited edition gift set of five lip colours. The lipsticks sit in a presentation box designed by Maria Grazia Chiuri’s studio and crafted by Maison Bucol to celebrate the Year of the Tiger.
Buy now £160.00, Harrods
MAC Lunar Luck limited-edition eyeshadow palette 5.4g
MAC has gone all out for the incoming new year with a limited edition makeup collection that spans cosmetics and brushes, all sporting tiger-themed packaging in pink and purple. We’re lusting for the lot, but the nine-colour eyeshadow palette has our attention. Filled with berry and gold hues, it makes a wonderful treat for the beauty lover in your life.
Buy now £28.00, Selfridges
Charlotte Tilbury Lunar New Year Lipsticks Matte Revolution
Celebrity makeup artist Charlotte Tilbury has created a new year treat for those celebrating; a trio of moisturising matte-effect lipsticks in shades of red, wrapped up in tiger print packaging. The party starts here.
Buy now £28.00, Charlotte Tilbury
Origins Mega-Mushroom Relief & Resilience Soothing Treatment Lotion
Origins brings big cat magic to its bestselling mushroom-spiked treatment lotion in honour of the Lunar New Year. Designed to bring a healthy glow to skin, simply pat on morning and night to see the skin-soothing effects instantly.
Buy now £32.00, Origins
Laura Mercier Lunar New Year 2022 Translucent Loose Setting Powder Special Deco + Puff
Themed beauty gifts continue over at Laura Mercier, who has dressed up its bestselling Translucent Loose Setting Powder in celebratory red packaging to herald the Lunar New Year. One of our favourite products from the collection, a light dusting is like Instagram’s Paris filter over the face, diffusing shine, minimising pores and making skin look expensive.
Buy now £32.00, Harvey Nichols
La Mer The Hydration Adventure Collection
If you really want to spoil someone, few beauty brands are more lauded than La Mer. The beauty editor’s favourite has transformed it’s Hydration Adventure Collection for the festivities. The four-strong set is designed to recharge and reset, the perfect start to a new year.
Buy now £370.00, Harvey Nichols
Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Serum Synchronized Multi-Recovery Complex in Red Bottle 50ml
The night ritual we all know and love, now in fierce tiger-themed packaging. Makes a wonderful gift for all genders.
Buy now £82.00, Harvey Nichols
Loveness Lee Chinese Zodiac Jewellery - Tiger
Jewellery is a lovely way to mark big occasions, and this Lunar New Year, Chinese jewellery designer Loveness Lee has something very special indeed. The brand’s range of Chinese zodiac pendants are inspired by ancient calligraphy with 18ct gold plate wrapped on recycled silver for a unique trinket to add to your treasure chest.
Buy now £158.00, Loveness Lee
Louis Vuitton Precious Tiger Square in Yellow
The esteemed fashion house pays homage to the incoming zodiac year with a 100 per cent silk square, featuring a tiger resting on an LV case. It also comes in a pink colourway.
Buy now £400.00, Louis Vuitton
Gucci Tiger silk neck bow
Luxury Italian fashion house Gucci has released its tribute to the new year with a silk neck bow decorated with a tiger and flower print in pale pink.
Buy now £185.00, Gucci
Versace Lunar New Year Tiger Virgin Wool Cardigan
One for the truly boujee, Versace’s new year cardigan is the sort of gift that would make a fashion fiend jump with joy. The red and black piece is made from virgin wool, with an embroidered motif of the jungle cat as the finishing touch.
It’s part of a wider, coordinating range which includes a wool dress, skirt, sweater and a scarf.
Buy now £880.00, Versace
