18 Best Lunar New Year Gift Ideas for 2025

2025 Lunar New Year Gift List! Carefully Curated Practical Gifts to Ensure You Don’t Miss the Mark!

Food Gifts

Tea Gift Set

You can choose a variety of teas such as green tea, black tea, oolong tea, and pu-erh tea. Famous varieties like West Lake Longjing, Wuyi Mountain Da Hong Pao, and Yunnan Pu-erh are excellent choices. The elegant packaging will also reflect the giver’s thoughtfulness.

Exquisite Alcohol Sets

For baijiu, you can choose from different flavors such as strong aroma, sauce aroma, or light aroma. For red wine, you can select dry red, semi-dry, or sweet red. Yellow wine has a unique flavor and is suitable for drinking at family gatherings like New Year's Eve dinner.

Nut Gift Box

Containing almonds, cashews, macadamia nuts, walnuts, and other varieties, this gift is nutritious and perfect for family sharing during the New Year, symbolizing good luck and prosperity.

Pastry Gift Box

Filled with a variety of flavors such as date paste, red bean paste, and five-nut fillings, these soft and sticky pastries are perfect for the elderly and can also be enjoyed as breakfast or afternoon tea snacks.

Fruit Basket

Choose seasonal fresh fruits like oranges, apples, dragon fruit, cherries, etc., and arrange them in a beautiful fruit basket. This gift brings health and deliciousness to the recipient.

Health Soup Gift Set

Consisting of ingredients like sea cucumber, fish maw, and cordyceps flowers, these health-focused soup gift sets are ideal for friends and family who value wellness. They can be used to make nourishing soups.

Practical Lifestyle Gifts

Massagers

A head massager can relieve head fatigue by massaging the scalp. A foot massager can target acupressure points on the soles of the feet, promoting blood circulation and relieving bodily fatigue.

Warm Clothing

A wool scarf offers great warmth and enhances style. Thermal underwear provides comfort and protection from the cold, keeping the recipient warm during the winter.

Bedding Sets

Wool quilts are soft and comfortable with excellent warmth, improving sleep quality. A four-piece bedding set made of soft fabric with exquisite designs can add a warm atmosphere to the bedroom.

Smart Home Appliances

A robotic vacuum cleaner can automatically clean floors, saving time and effort. An air purifier improves indoor air quality. A humidifier can increase humidity and alleviate dryness in the air.

Thermal Mugs

These thermal mugs are great for keeping beverages hot, with various styles and capacities available. They are perfect for drinking hot water in the winter and can also carry coffee, tea, and other drinks.

Cultural and Artistic Gifts

Calligraphy and Paintings

If the recipient appreciates culture and art, a calligraphy piece with auspicious words like "福" (Good Fortune), "寿" (Longevity), or "招财进宝" (Wealth and Prosperity) would make a meaningful gift. Alternatively, a beautiful traditional Chinese painting can elevate the home’s decor.

Ceramic Ornaments

Exquisite ceramic vases, plates, bowls, and other ornaments, crafted with great skill, are both decorative and practical. They can enhance the aesthetic atmosphere of the home.

Digital and Technology Gifts

Tablet

Perfect for young people for studying, entertainment, and work, fulfilling various needs such as watching videos, reading e-books, drawing, and using office software.

Smartwatch

Equipped with fitness tracking features, it can record activity data like steps, distance, and calories burned. It also has health management features such as heart rate monitoring and sleep tracking, making it both fashionable and practical.

Wireless Headphones

Convenient to carry with good sound quality, these are ideal for friends and family who love listening to music or watching videos. They free you from the limitations of wired headphones, making them more convenient to use.

Specialty Gift Categories

Local Specialties

Local products from different regions, such as Beijing roast duck, Tianjin mahua, Chongqing hotpot base, Jingdezhen porcelain from Jiangxi, and Anxi Tieguanyin tea from Fujian, let your friends and family taste or experience the flavors and specialties of various areas.

Customized Gifts

Personalized items like T-shirts, mugs, pillows, or bracelets with the recipient's name, photo, or a heartfelt message. These gifts have a unique, commemorative meaning and reflect special care and well wishes.

Lunar New Year Gift Recommendations for Different People

1.Gifts for Parents:

Smart Health Devices: Smart bracelets, blood pressure monitors, massagers, etc., to help monitor their health and relax.

Health Supplements: Ginseng, Ejiao (donkey-hide gelatin), sea cucumber, etc., to help parents nourish their bodies and boost immunity.

Warm Clothing: Down jackets, thermal underwear, scarves, and waist supports to protect against the cold and bring warmth.

2.Gifts for Children:

Red Envelopes: Filled with an appropriate amount of cash. A simple and traditional Chinese gift suitable for all occasions.

Candies and Chocolates: To bring joy to children.

Educational Toys: Fun and educational toys to entertain and educate.

3.Gifts for Best Friends:

Scented Candle Set: To enhance the quality of life.

Limited Edition Cosmetics: To make her look fabulous.

Manual Coffee Brewing Set: For enjoying a refined lifestyle.

4.Gifts for Boyfriends:

New Game Controller: For a better gaming experience.

Mechanical Keyboard: To enhance the work experience.

Customized Photo Album: To preserve sweet memories.

5.Gifts for Colleagues:

Exquisite Stationery Set: To boost work mood.

Office Green Plants: To purify the air and brighten the workspace.

Snack Gift Pack: To improve workplace happiness.

Gifts to Avoid Giving for the Lunar New Year

Items with Negative Connotations

Clocks

"Sending a clock" sounds like "送终" (sòng zhōng), meaning "sending off to the end" in Chinese, which is seen as a bad omen, especially when given to the elderly or the sick. This gift can evoke unpleasant associations and is considered inappropriate for New Year.

Pears

In some dialects, "pear" sounds like "离" (lí), which means separation or parting. This gives the impression of disharmony or a lack of unity, making pears an unsuitable gift for New Year, especially during family reunions.

Umbrellas

"Umbrella" sounds like "散" (sàn), meaning to scatter or break apart, symbolizing separation or broken relationships. It's generally not a good idea to give umbrellas as New Year gifts, as they can imply bad fortune or distance in relationships.

Shoes

"Shoes" sounds like "邪" (xié), which means evil or bad luck. Giving shoes as a gift can create a negative psychological association and is not recommended during the New Year celebrations.

Inappropriate or Sensitive Items

White or Black Flowers

White and black flowers are often associated with mourning and sadness in many cultures. For example, white lilies, white chrysanthemums, and black roses might be beautiful but can be seen as inappropriate New Year gifts due to their association with funerals.

Underwear

Underwear is a very private item. Unless you have an exceptionally close relationship with the recipient, it's best not to give it as a New Year gift to avoid awkwardness or misunderstandings.

Sharp Objects like Knives or Swords

Sharp objects, such as knives or swords, traditionally symbolize severed relationships or conflicts. They are seen as bad omens and are typically avoided as gifts for the New Year. They may also give off a sense of threat.

Medicine

Although medicine is meant to help people feel better, gifting medicine during the New Year may imply that you think the recipient is sick, which is an uncomfortable and unwelcome suggestion. It’s generally considered bad luck to give medicine as a gift during this time.

Other Inappropriate Gifts

Old or Second-Hand Items

The New Year is a time for fresh starts, and people expect new, vibrant gifts. Giving old or second-hand items can give the impression that you don’t value the recipient enough or that you're being careless, unless the item holds significant sentimental value and the recipient understands and is okay with it.

Inexpensive or Poor-Quality Items

Gifts represent your heartfelt intentions, so giving cheap or obviously low-quality items can make the recipient feel unappreciated or disrespected. It's better to choose thoughtful and meaningful gifts within a reasonable budget.

Gift-Giving Tips

Choose the Right Colors

Red and gold are considered lucky colors and are perfect for the occasion.

Package the Gift Beautifully

First impressions are important, so make sure the wrapping is neat and elegant.

Include a Greeting Card with Sincere Wishes

A heartfelt message will make your gift feel more personal and meaningful.

Consider Practicality

Choose gifts that are useful to avoid accumulating dust or clutter.

Price Should Be Reasonable

The thought behind the gift matters most, so avoid extravagant gifts unless it fits the recipient’s personality and your relationship.

Remove Price Tags

Leaving the price tag on the gift can send the wrong message and imply that the gift was chosen based on cost rather than sentiment.

Avoid Overly Personal Gifts

Gifts should be appropriate for the relationship, so avoid overly intimate or personal items.

Avoid Expiring Foods

Steer clear of perishable food gifts, as they may not be well-received.

Don’t Give Duplicate Gifts

Avoid giving the same gift more than once. If you're unsure, consider different gift ideas to avoid duplication.