At a table covered with hot pot, stir fry and dumplings for good luck, sophomore Amy Ji typically would gather with around 40 relatives and family friends to celebrate the Lunar New Year at her grandparents’ house in China.

This year, Amy and her three other family members celebrated at home, marking the Year of the Tiger with minimal food and decorations.

Lunar New Year is a time when families reunite and celebrate the start of a new year on the lunisolar calendar together. However, the coronavirus pandemic has altered celebrations and even separated many families during the last two years.

Junior Sarina Zhao, whose parents grew up in China, has always celebrated Lunar New year in some form. 

“Before COVID, we would often have larger gatherings with other Chinese families,” Sarina said. “A lot of the time, a family would host a dinner party at their house, and everyone would get together, eat a lot of food and just celebrate together.”

Sarina hasn’t celebrated this way for two years due to the pandemic. This year, she had dinner with her immediate family at home, which she found unusual given the holiday’s custom of being around others. 

“It has been a little bit strange to have a quieter Lunar New Year,” Sarina said. “It definitely felt a bit more lonely this year, and less like you are celebrating as much when the celebrations are a little quieter.”

While Amy typically travels to China for Lunar New Year to celebrate with her relatives, the pandemic affected her ability to do so. 

“Usually, there would be a lot of relatives making dinner with us, and it would just be really busy,” Amy said. “Now, it’s just really quiet.”

Senior Zach Gin similarly had to alter his celebrations to comply with COVID-19 safety regulations. While he usually participates in a Chinatown parade during Lunar New Year and celebrates with his grandma, he wasn’t able to this year, which he found disappointing. 

“It’s definitely a cool thing to experience to see all of the firecrackers and lion dancing,” Zach said, “but my grandma is kind of old, so it didn’t make sense to put her at risk with that.” 

Zach has relatives in other areas of the world who typically travel to celebrate the Lunar New Year with his family. These past two years, they have not, which he said made the holiday feel different. 

While Sarina misses the large-scale celebrations, she said she appreciated how the quieter atmosphere allowed her to celebrate within the close circle of her immediate family.

“I think it’s nice that even though we can’t be with a lot of people,” Sarina said. “We can at least be together in our small little group and watch television together and eat food together.”