New Year's Eve dinner Photo: VCG

Even with the 2026 Chinese New Year's Eve still more than a month out, restaurant bookings for the celebratory "Nian Ye Fan" in Shanghai are already surging past 7,000 orders. The city serves as just one example, depicting how the "Nian Ye Fan" reservation wave has arrived early across the country. 

Zhu Jie, the manager of a Beijing cuisine chain restaurant in Beijing's Chaoyang district, told the Global Times that all its 14 private rooms for New Year's Eve dinner were "fully booked by early November," and what's available now "are only dining seats in the main hall, arranged by pushing square tables together." 

To accommodate as many diners as possible, Zhu said the restaurant has established two dining slots: 2:30 pm to 6:30 pm, and 6:30 pm to 9:30 pm. This strategy of staggering reservations appears to be a widespread response to the high demand.

Wang Xiaoai, manager of a fusion Sichuan cuisine restaurant based in Chongqing Municipality, told the Global Times that their latest dining session runs until 12:30 am. 

"To be honest, this presents both an opportunity and a test of a restaurant's capabilities," Wang said. She also noted that advance bookings for the New Year's Eve meal have become the "norm," a trend that emerged around 2023. 

"No matter how high the demand, if the actual menu and food lacks distinctive features, the restaurant still falls short," Wang added. 

From Chongqing's "garlic sauce pork belly tartare" to Beijing's "roast duck with jasmine aroma," New Year's Eve dining experiences that blend innovation with local cultural flavors are drawing customers. In the Changji Hui autonomous prefecture, Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, a local restaurant offers not only "intangible cultural heritage ice cream" but also ethnic shows such as ethnic Kazak dance, creating an immersive cultural experience for diners. 

A restaurant in coastal city Xiamen, East China's Fujian Province, is promoting its "sea-view New Year's Eve dinner." Beyond offering a dining setting overlooking Gulangyu Island, it has integrated dishes rich in cultural symbolism into the menu. The phrase "toss high, toss high, for a prosperous rise" is used to describe the local raw fish salad dish "Yusheng," also known as "prosperity toss." 

In East China's Zhejiang Province, an immersive "Nian Ye Fan" experience has even crossed over into the performing arts. In Hangzhou, an art-themed restaurant has received over 40 percent more out-of-town visitors this year compared to previous years, while in Wenzhou, reservations at a restaurant themed around Kunqu Opera are nearing full capacity.

Noting the innovative dining experience is "a key driver" behind the soaring popularity of the Nian Ye Fan reservations, cultural sociologist Chu Xin told the Global Times that this is due to how consumers' interpretation of the dinner has changed. 

"Nowadays, the post-1990 and even post-2000 generations are taking the lead in organizing Spring Festival celebrations. For them, the priority lies in creating a lasting memory of family reunion, going beyond just the meal itself," Chu remarked. 

"I specifically booked a table at a plant-themed fusion restaurant. While I know my parents might not easily take to Western food, I wanted them to have a different experience, especially as they grow older, such moments become even more precious to them," Cheng Yue, a consumer in Chongqing, told the Global Times. 

In addition to the traditional practice of dining out, the New Year's Eve dinner takeout is also becoming a new trend. 

A restaurant in Fuzhou has launched a 649-yuan ($93) takeout dinner set. Meanwhile, "Nian Ye Fan at-home" is trending in cities such as Wuhan in Hubei Province and ­Suqian in Jiangsu Province.

"Although hiring a private chef for a home-cooked Nian Ye Fan dinner is slightly more expensive than dining at a restaurant, it allows the whole family to enjoy a feast in a familiar environment and even watch the cooking process," said a consumer surnamed Wang based in Suqian. "This kind of experience is unique, and we are all looking forward to it."