Lunar New Year begins on February 10th and this year will be the Year of the Dragon! If you’re not familiar with the holiday, the National Museum of Asian Art has a cool explainer that also touches on traditional food and music, and People actually had a good piece, as well. My immediate family doesn’t celebrate Lunar New Year, but I’ve always lived in communities with large Asian populations and am familiar with the holiday from friends, extended family, and simply living in the world, and I’d love to hear how you and your friends and family celebrate! Wirecutter had a great piece about Lego’s Lunar New Year sets, which are beautiful, and this is a great article in the LA Times about the symbolism behind traditional Lunar New Year foods (as part of a larger piece about where to eat them which has made me very hungry).
If you need (or want!) to prep for the holiday, there’s a lot out there at the moment, although I think a lot of retailers are still sleeping on this — I was really surprised that Anthropologie didn’t have a curated Lunar New Year section in their homewares. But Williams Sonoma has a great collection of Lunar New Year goods right now; these plates are so cool, and this Staub braiser with a dragon enameled on the top of it is AMAZING. (This is also a great time to eat Chinese almond cookies, which I actually never need an excuse to eat. Williams Sonoma has them in a very cool tin, but my family always just bought the classic Twin Dragon ones.) And in the grand tradition of all our holiday posts, I found a ton of expensive/wild stuff at Neiman Marcus, ranging from this cool-looking Sugarfina tasting collection to this $5000 Judith Leiber bag. I confess to also low-key coveting this year’s Lunar New Year Barbie. And obviously you might need a festive cloak for your cat.
Pearl River Mart, of course, has a bunch of cool stuff in stock, like this apple-scented candle, but what I really love there is their Friendship Box, which is full of treats. Target collaborated with Asian artist Yiran Xia for their Lunar New Year collection, and it’s really charming. And the Huntington Library has a great selection in their museum shop, including this amazing throw pillow, and this extremely cool mug.
Something here might also catch your eye:
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