How You Can Enjoy the Festive Chinese New Year Day in Bali

Chinese New Year in Bali takes place on 25th January 2020. This special holiday is celebrated mostly by the Balinese of Chinese descent as well as by most Chinese Indonesians across the nation. Although predominantly a Hindu Island, Balinese also welcomes the Chinese New Year joyfully. Even we don’t celebrate Chinese New Year, but we are very excited to watch the Chinese New Year Celebration in Bali. These 3 recommendations to enjoy the Lunar New Year in Bali.

Experience the Celebration at some Klenteng in Bali

Various temples called “klenteng“, are frequented by Chinese Balinese on this day. Honestly, I can’t recommend specific klenteng that you should come. It’s because Bali has a lot of klenteng and they have their charisma. Maybe, you can try to visit the oldest and the nearest klenteng in Kuta Area. Yess. That’s is Vihara Dharmayana in Kuta. At the heart of Bali’s most hectic area in Kuta, lies Vihara Dharmayana, a Buddhist temple where you can find serenity amidst the calming scent of incense.

It is located only a kilometer to the east from Kuta’s main strip, 12-min walking from our near bus stop Kuta Point by Ardenia. On the Chinese New Year Festival, you can enjoy lion and dragon dance in this well-maintained temple. The temple’s sacred lion head (Barongsai) will be on display during the New Year’s celebration.

[Image by tradisitridarma]

If you have a lot of time, you also can celebrate Lunar New Year at Ling Gwan Kiong in Singaraja. I know its quite far from Kuta or Denpasar, but it’s worth it to try. Ling Gwan Kiong is a Chinese temple where you can experience the vibrant Chinese New Year celebration with a taste of Bali. You can watch the energetic dragon dance and also a local gamelan (bronze percussion ensemble) show known as “Gong Kebyar”. At the end of the New Year’s day, a thrilling firework performance is presented to wrap up the event. Located close to the old harbor of Singaraja, this temple is a waterfront where you can see picturesque seashore. You also can see the remains of colonial Dutch influence on the old buildings surrounding the temple.

Savor the tasty Kung Pao Chicken cuisine at Happy Chappy Seminyak

[Image by happychappy]

Happy Chappy is one of the most famous Chinese restaurants in Bali. Happy Chappy is a convivial family-style Chinese Restaurant inspired by a blend of traditional Chinese culture with a hip, modern influence. It is popular because of its fancy interpretation of the Chinese food menu, such as Kung Pao Chicken, Dim Sum Platter, and Peking Duck. What makes this restaurant stand out, apart from its dishes, is its astonishing vintage Chinese interior design that you see in old Chinese kungfu movies. For a real “drunken master” experience, we recommend you visit the Dragon’s Den Bar.

24 hours Chinese delicacies at Laota

Mr. Laota, who founded the restaurant, was a fisherman who starts his business from a humble beginning. He started by selling Hong Kong porridge and as his business grew, the restaurant had expanded by opening three branches in Bali. Warung Laota Tuban is near one of our bus stops The Keranjang Bali. Warung Laota has been serving authentic Hong Kong-style homemade dishes for the past 15 years and currently, it is one of the best Chinese restaurants in Bali. Please try their porridge or you will not regret to try this! For us, it’s the best porridge in Bali :3

The last thing that you should be done in Chinese New Year is you must buy this Cake in Warung Laota! Gao (also niangao; nin gou in Cantonese), sometimes translated as year cake or Chinese New Year’s cake, is a food prepared from glutinous rice and consumed in Chinese cuisine. While it can be eaten all year round, traditionally it is most popular during Chinese New Year. It is considered good luck to eat nian gao during this time because nian gao is a homonym for “higher year”.

Well, that’s all about our recommendation to celebrate 1 Day Chinese New Year in Bali. We hope all the recommendations can help you to decide what you are going to do on 25th January in Bali. Happy Lunar New Year! Stay Healthy Everyone!