Lunar New Year 2025

According to the Chinese zodiac, on Wednesday 29 January we officially enter the Year of the Snake. The Lunar New Year is always a colourful celebration in London, and here in South Bank you can also mark the occasion. Here are some ideas for ways to place to celebrate the New Year, Chinese style.

Year of the Snake at Ping Pong

The colourful dim sum restaurant at Southbank Centre is serving a limited-edition Year of the Snake menu from 14 January. Dishes to look forward to on the extensive festive dim sum menu include grilled eel on crispy rice cake, char siu roast pork, enoki and cauliflower dumplings, wagyu beef and black bean dumplings and black sesame buns.

You can also toast the New Year with a limited-edition cocktail, the Snake Yuzu Vodka Sherbet, made with Tarsier yuzu marmalade vodka, house sake, and citrus syrup, topped with a vibrant green sugar rim and a garnish of lime peel. Find out more and book here.

Chinese New Year at Peacock restaurant

Located in an iconic riverside location inside County Hall, this Chinese restaurant boasts incredible views of Big Ben. Launched by Shanghai’s Linjiangyan restaurant group, Peacock is the group’s first London restaurant, joining a collection of upmarket restaurants in Shanghai and Chengdu. For New Year diners can choose from one of four extravagant set menus.

The luxurious Peacock Menu (£188 per person) features dishes like lobster with ginger and spring onions and Szechuan mapo tofu with wagyu beef. The Ruby menu costs £138 per person with dishes including signature Peking duck, steamed scallops and chicken clay pot and the Sapphire menu costs £98 per person. There's also a vegetarian set menu priced at £68 per person. Note that a minimum of two people must order the menu. Find out more and book here.

Creative Encounters: The Bitten Peach, pan-Asian queer cabaret

Slither into the Year of the Snake on Wednesday with performances, workshops and new year vibes from the UK’s first queer pan-Asian cabaret company, The Bitten Peach at Southbank Centre. The Bitten Peach’s mission is to empower the queer Asian community through shows, events and collaborations. They tell Asian stories, create safe spaces, diversify Asian representation, provide platforms, and educate on racial issues. The evening begins with an origami workshop led by drag king Daddy Maki followed by stand-up, drag, poetry, song and dance courtesy of The Bitten Peach cabaret. Entrance is free! Wed 29 Jan from 7:30pm.

Focus Hong Kong film series at BFI Southbank

Screening across the weekend preceeding Chinese New Year, the BFI marks the arrival of the Year of the Snake with a new selection of films in its Focus Hong Kong series; True Love, For Once in My Life (Thu 23 Jan at 6:10pm), All Shall Be Well (Sat 25 Jan at 3:10pm) and Shanghai Blues (Sun 26 Jan at 2:45pm).