10 Virtual Chinese New Year Ideas for a Fun Celebration

As we gear up to welcome the Lunar New Year, what better way to appreciate this vibrant culture at your office than Virtual Chinese New Year Ideas? From virtual cookie classes and DIY crafts to fun online games, the possibilities are endless for creating memorable experiences.

If you and your remote team want to celebrate the Year of the Horse in style, we have got you covered with our unique virtual Chinese New Year ideas. Each of these ideas will allow your team members to improve bonding while embracing happiness and good fortune.

1. Why Celebrate Chinese New Year with Your Remote Teams?

Celebrating Chinese New Year with remote teams provides a wonderful opportunity to embrace cultural traditions while creating a sense of togetherness. With Virtual Chinese New Year celebration ideas like interactive games, cooking classes, and live-streamed performances, you can bring the festivities to life while promoting cultural appreciation in an engaging way.

These inclusive events create a meaningful experience for teams to explore the festival's vibrant customs and traditions from a distance. Plus, everyone gets a reason to celebrate and connect with their coworkers in a festive setting.

2. Top 11 Virtual Chinese New Year Ideas for Teams

2.1. Chinese New Year Trivia

Add a bit of competitive fun to your virtual Chinese New Year ideas with a Trivia Event hosted by Hooray Teams, a virtual team-building platform. You and your team will test your smarts on everything from the significance of the zodiac animals to the history behind Chinese New Year customs. A professional trivia master will lead you and your team every step of the way, keeping the competition fierce and the laughter flowing.

As the trivia continues, see how well you know the animals linked to each year and explore the animal signs designated for each month, day, and even hour. What's cool is that they can craft questions tailored to your team's interests and preferences, making your Chinese New Year celebration extra special.

Try this: Incorporate gamification elements in these Chinese New Year games, such as leaderboards, badges, or virtual rewards.

2.2. Picture Guess Off

If your team loves festive challenges, they’ll definitely enjoy the Chinese New Year Picture Guess Off by Hooray Teams. A friendly host will share cleverly disguised images, and your team needs to guess the target picture within a set time. You can expect prompts like a cropped lantern, a zoomed-in picture of a zodiac sign, or blurred dumplings, perfect for tricking your team.

The game guarantees a lot of fun as teams laugh over hilarious guesses and cheer for all the correct ones. To take the fun up a notch, opt for custom themes or categories for a personalized experience.

Try this: Pair the game with tricky puzzles to make it a little more challenging for teams.

2.3. Chinese New Year Bingo

Looking for low-key, engaging virtual Chinese New Year ideas? The Hooray Teams’ Lunar New Year Bingo can fit right in. A lively host will share digital bingo cards with your team and call out themed prompts during each round. These prompts can include traditions, customs, lucky foods, zodiac signs, and trivia questions.

Team members need to mark off the prompts as called out, create a winning combination, and shout ‘Bingo!’ Additionally, you can tailor the prompts with custom themes to enjoy a unique game created just for your team.

Try this: Opt for a different theme for each round to keep things engaging for all.

Chinese new year bingo

2.4. Fortune Cookie Decorating Class

What's cooler than eating a fortune cookie? Decorating one from scratch at the Hooray Teams’ Fortune Cookie Decorating Class as part of your Chinese New Year celebration ideas. In this hands-on session, a dedicated host will guide you through various tricks, techniques, and designs (try zodiac signs, decorations, cultural symbols, or even festive treats!) to decorate your cookies. Along the way, you will hear stories about how this Asian delicacy became popular in the United States, along with other cultural anecdotes.

The platform delivers all the materials like sugar cookies, brushes, paints, and a palette for teams to decorate a batch of delicious (and Instaworthy!) cookies. If any of your team members have dietary restrictions, let their team know in advance so everyone can participate without any worries.

Try this: Send your personalized fortune cookies to your colleagues to spread good vibes and inspiration.

2.5. Hongbao Lantern Making

Bring a creative twist to your virtual Chinese New Year ideas with a Hongbao Lantern Making Class by Hooray Teams. A master lantern-maker will guide you and your team to layer fold and layer multiple red envelopes to create vibrant lanterns for a festive display. During the session, you will also munch on delicious Asian snacks for a cozy, cultural experience.

Participants will receive custom lantern-making kits delivered straight to their doorsteps, so they don't need to worry about sourcing craft supplies. By the end of the session, you'll master new skills and gain a whole new appreciation for this charming traditional art.

Try this: Create a virtual gallery where everyone can share pictures of their paper lanterns to create a festive collage.

2.6. Lunar New Year Talent Show

Add a vibrant and interactive dimension to your virtual Chinese New Year ideas by creating a digital talent show. Enjoy sharing stage space (virtually, of course!) as your teammates sing, dance, mime, and perform various other performance arts. Incorporate traditional elements such as lion dance performances or Chinese instrumental music to enrich the experience.

Additionally, encourage your colleagues to wear traditional or holiday-themed attire to set a festive tone for your Lunar New Year Talent Show.

Try this: Take inspiration from the annual CCTV New Year’s Gala, which mixes comedy with dance, singing, and even some gymnastics.

2.7. Chinese Calligraphy

Elevate your team’s Lunar New Year celebration with an authentic Chinese Calligraphy Class by Hooray Teams. Under the guidance of a skilled instructor, you and your team will have hands-on experience holding the brush, applying ink, and trying various strokes. You’ll also pick up expert tips to perfect your letterforms along the way.

Once you’ve learned the basics, you can try writing names, short messages, or cultural phrases like ‘Fu’ to experiment with your newly acquired artistic skills. Before the event, you’ll receive custom kits with all the necessary supplies for a hassle-free experience.

Try this: Encourage participants to share their creative work on social media using hashtags #CreativeTeamBuilding or #ChineseNewYearCards.

2.8. Zen Chinese Tea Experience

Legend has it that tea was invented in China, making it a must-try option when curating Virtual Chinese New Year Ideas. Arrange a savory tea-tasting session featuring a wide variety of traditional Chinese teas, such as oolong, green, yellow, black, and Pu'er.

Besides appreciating tea blends, you and your team will also learn about the history, culture, brewing, and tasting techniques, making this experience both enjoyable and educational. Participants can also engage in meaningful conversations about beverage preferences or share personal tea experiences to make the session more interactive.

Try this: Hire an expert to lead a virtual tea tasting where you and your team can delve deeper into the history and proper preparation of various brews.

2.9. Virtual China Tour

With Chinese New Year virtual event ideas like Hooray Teams’ Virtual China Tour, you and your team can explore the streets of China from afar. A professional host will guide your team through major attractions such as Jiuzhaigou Valley, the Great Wall, the Forbidden City in Beijing, and more.

As you traverse these majestic landmarks, learn about the country’s rich past and heritage from an expert host. Interact with your coworkers and share travel stories to make the experience more engaging. We recommend opting for their custom challenges, like Guess the Destination or a few rounds of Travel Trivia, to dial up the fun.

Try this: To make the most out of your Chinese New Year virtual activity, encourage your team to bring along their favorite Chinese snacks or beverages.

2.10. Virtual Mahjong Challenge

Among virtual Chinese New Year ideas, the Virtual Mahjong Challenge brings friends and family together in a fun and competitive atmosphere. Most people think of mahjong as a pair-matching game, but real mahjong, as the Chinese play it, is more akin to card games like rummy.

Get in the arena and test your skills while also learning about Chinese culture and traditions. Just bear in mind that mahjong is a game for four people, so you’ll have to divide up larger groups accordingly.

Try this: Browse sites like Mahjong4Friends, which allow you to create a private room where your team can learn the rules and compete together.

2.11. Chinese New Year Karaoke

What’s a New Year party without music? Including Karaoke in your virtual Chinese New Year ideas is an energetic way to break the ice, share laughter, and keep the momentum. You can keep it in theme by creating a fun playlist with songs that call out the 12 Chinese zodiac animals in their title or artist name. Think Hound Dog by Elvis Presley or Brass Monkey by the Beastie Boys. And don't forget to encourage participants to show off their best dance moves while they sing along!

Try this: Make virtual Chinese New Year more interesting by encouraging team members to share their favorite Chinese songs so you can create a Spotify playlist together.

Looking for ways to celebrate other annual holidays? We’ve got articles on how to host virtual parties for Thanksgiving, Halloween, Independence Day, and Diwali, as well as more general digital party ideas.

3. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

3.1. When is Chinese New Year celebrated?

Chinese New Year is celebrated according to the lunisolar calendar, which is why the date changes every year. However, it always falls between January 21 and February 20 on the first day of the new moon.

3.2. What are some free Chinese New Year virtual celebration ideas?

Some free Chinese New Year virtual ideas include trivia, bingo, scavenger hunts, and online lion dance performances.

3.3. How to host a virtual Chinese New Year celebration?

To host your virtual Chinese New Year party, here are some guidelines to keep in mind:

Choose an online platform like Zoom or Microsoft Teams for hosting the celebration.
Set a date and time based on the team’s schedules.
Make a guest list and send an invite with event details.
Plan fun Chinese New Year online games and activities.

3.4. What are some online Chinese New Year games?

When it comes to Chinese New Year virtual games, teams can enjoy trivia, mahjong and a scavenger hunt. Teams can also try out games like zodiac personality matching, pictionary and festive bingo.

3.5. Can you suggest some Chinese New Year team building games?

Some Chinese new year games online for team building include trivia, jeopardy, pictionary, taboo, scavenger hunt and bingo. These games can be customized with Chinese New Year themes to create an engaging experience.