What China’s listening to this Spring Festival (and every Spring Festival)

Holidays are known for feasts and family gatherings. But they are also easily identifiable by something else: songs. Just think of all the music associated with Christmas, from Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” to Wham!’s “Last Christmas,” and every jingle in between.

Suffice to say, there are similarly popular tunes being played in China these days, as the country prepares for its most important holiday of the year: lunar new year, which marks the beginning of the country’s weeklong Spring Festival holiday season.

What are some songs everyone should know? Take a look at the list of eight below, which you’ll hear in eateries, restaurants, malls, supermarkets…basically everywhere.

1. Wish You Great Fortune (恭喜发财 gōngxǐ fācái)

我恭喜你发财，我恭喜你精彩
wǒ gōngxǐ nǐ fācái, wǒ gōngxǐ nǐ jīngcǎi

I wish you fortune, I wish you excellence

最好的请过来
zuì hǎo de qǐng guò lái

May the best come to you

不好的请走开
bù hǎo de qǐng zǒu kāi

And the worst disappear

礼多人不怪
lǐ duō rén bù guài

No one would blame you for being too polite

我祝满天下的女孩嫁一个好男孩
wǒ zhù mǎn tiān xià de nǚhái jià yī gè hǎo nánhái

I wish girls all over the world marry good guys

两小口永远在一块
liǎng xiǎo kǒu yǒngyuǎn zài yīkuài

May the couples be together forever 

我祝满天下的小孩聪明胜过秀才
wǒ zhù mǎn tiān xià de xiǎohái cōngmíng shèngguò xiùcái

I wish all the kids in the world become smarter than scholars 

智商充满你脑袋
zhìshāng chōngmǎn nǐ nǎodai

May intelligence fill your heads 

我祝尊敬的姑奶奶
wǒ zhù zūnjìng de gū nǎinai

I wish my respectable grand aunts 

三十六圈的比赛
sānshíliù quān de bǐsài

Can play mahjong all day

气不喘面容不改
qì bù chuǎn miànróng bù gǎi

With steady breath and a straight face

我祝三叔公的买卖生意名扬四海
wǒ zhù sān shūgōng de mǎimài shēngyì míng yáng sìhǎi

I wish my grand uncle’s business be known far and wide 

财运亨通住豪宅
cái yùn hēng tōng zhù háozhái

May you make a fortune and live in a mansion

Keep the lines in mind and you’ll be the most popular kid in the family. Performed and produced by Andy Lau (刘德华 Liú Déhuá), a Hong Kong-born actor, singer, and film producer whose name is probably known by 99% of Chinese people across three generations, “Wish You Great Fortune” made it on the CCTV Spring Festival Gala (Chūnwǎn 春晚) in 2005 — it’s a show watched by basically everybody — and became an instant classic.

2. Gōngxǐ Gōngxǐ 恭喜恭喜

每条大街小巷
měi tiáo dàjiē xiǎoxiàng

On every street and in every lane 

每个人的嘴里
měi gè rén de zuǐ lǐ

On everyone’s lips 

见面第一句话
jiànmiàn dì yī jù huà

The first thing we say 

就是恭喜恭喜
jiù shì gōngxǐ gōngxǐ

Is happy new year

恭喜恭喜恭喜你呀
gōngxǐ gōngxǐ gōngxǐ nǐ ya

Happy happy new year to you

恭喜恭喜恭喜你
gōngxǐ gōngxǐ gōngxǐ nǐ

Happy happy new year to you 

Gōngxǐ 恭喜 literally means congratulations, but can also be a respectful way to wish someone joy — or a happy new year, in this context. The repetition in “Gongxi Gongxi” makes this song an earworm, hummed by people around the country. However, few know that this piece wasn’t originally made to celebrate the new year. It was first issued in 1945 to express the joy of spring, following the end of the Sino-Japanese War. It’s been covered by many singers since, including Teresa Teng, who added this song into her album issued in 1968. Pop singers have also added some modern elements. A singer called Xiāng Xiāng 香香 really feels the beat here:

3. Auspicious Day (好日子 hǎo rìzi)

今天是个好日子
jīntiān shì gè hǎo rìzi

Today is an auspicious day

心想的事儿都能成
xīn xiǎng de shì’er dōu néng chéng

All your wishes can come true

今天是个好日子
jīntiān shì gè hǎo rìzi

Today is an auspicious day

打开了家门咱迎春风
dǎkāile jiāmén zán yíng chūnfēng

Open the door and let’s welcome the spring breeze

Sòng Zǔyīng 宋祖英, a famous military singer, performed “Auspicious Day” at the CCTV Spring Festival Gala in 1998. This song depicts the joy of the Chinese people after 20 years of reform and opening up. This song is so festive and vibrant that as soon as the prelude begins, it’s as if you can see dancing dragons and lions in the polyphony of gongs and drums.

4. Good Luck (好运来 hǎoyùn lái)

好运来 祝你好运来
hǎo yùn lái, zhù nǐ hǎo yùn lái

Good luck, may good luck find you

好运带来了喜和爱
hǎo yùn dài lái le xǐ hé ài

Good luck has brought joysand love 

好运来 我们好运来
hǎo yùn lái, wǒmen hǎo yùn lái

Good luck, may good luck find us

迎着好运兴旺发达通四海
yíngzhe hǎo yùn xīng wàng fādá tōng sìhǎi

May good luck bring prosperity and development across the world

叠个千纸鹤
dié gè qiān zhǐ hè

Fold a paper crane

再系个红飘带
zài xì gè hóng piāodài

And tie a red ribbon 

愿善良的人们天天好运来
yuàn shànliáng de rénmen tiāntiān hǎo yùn lái

May good luck come to kind people every day

Made on Chunwan in 2004, sung by Zǔ Hǎi 祖海, a military singer famous for songs on the themes of patriotism and devotion, “Good Luck” is a companion piece to “Auspicious Day.” The lyrics uses many elements of the Spring Festival, and the lines are full of wishes. It’s catchy and also easy to remember.

5. Let’s Be Friends (相亲相爱 xiāngqīn xiāng’ài)

九州的祥瑞
jiǔzhōu de xiángruì

Auspiciousness from nine divisions of China

意动神飞
yì dòng shén fēi

Glowing and exuberant

东风静静吹
dōngfēng jìngjìng chuī

A gentle easterly breeze 

天下相亲与相爱
tiānxià xiāngqīn yǔ xiāng’ài

We love each other on the land under heaven 

动身千里外 心自成一脉
dòngshēn qiānlǐ wài, xīnzì chéng yī mài

Travel thousands of miles away, but hearts are as one 

今夜万家灯火时
jīnyè wàn jiā dēnghuǒ shí

When the lights of myriad families are on tonight 

或许隔窗望 梦中佳境在
huòxǔ gé chuāng wàng, mèng zhōng jiā jìng zài

Maybe look through the window and see your dream there

The theme song of China’s National Games in 2009, sung by four singers, “Let’s Be Friends” appeared on the stage of the Spring Festival Gala in 2010. With countless cover versions emerging later, it became a popular choice for performances in schools and companies’ annual parties. A comment from NetEase Music describes it as a song that suits both refined and popular tastes. Another comment goes: “God, I think I can use this song at my wedding party.”

This song is festive, with elaborate lyrics and uplifting tunes about reunion. It is also used to arouse the patriotism of the Chinese people. One of the most liked comments under the song is: “If you think your motherland is not good enough, you should contribute and reconstruct it. If you think the government is not good enough, you should take the civil service examination and become an official…Love life, love the motherland, O ever weeping.”

6. Peach Blossoms (桃花朵朵开 táohuā duǒ duǒ kāi)

我在这儿等着你回来
wǒ zài zhè’er děngzhe nǐ huílái

I’m here waiting for you to come back 

等着你回来
děngzhe nǐ huílái

Waiting for you to come back 

看那桃花开
kàn nà táohuā kāi

To see the peach blossoms 

我在这儿等着你回来
wǒ zài zhè’er děngzhe nǐ huílái

I’m here waiting for you to come back 

等着你回来
děngzhe nǐ huílái

Waiting for you to come back

把那花儿采
bǎ nà huā’er cǎi

To pick the flowers

Tan Kheng Seong, also known as Ā Niú 阿牛, a Chinese Malaysian singer and music producer, released this song in 2006, and got chosen for Chunwan in 2007. It is a good one for family gatherings and Karaoke, because the lyrics and tunes are just simple and easy to remember, suitable for people from three to 80 years old.

7. Happy Chinese New Year (欢乐中国年 huānlè zhōngguó nián)

金风送喜来，紫荆花已开
jīn fēng sòng xǐ lái, zǐjīng huā yǐ kāi

The golden wind brings joy, the bauhinia has bloomed

二月大地春雷锣鼓敲起来
èr yuè dà dì chūn léi luó gǔ qiāo qǐlái

In February, the earth’s gongs and drum beats have begun

百年梦已圆，千年手相牵
bǎinián mèng yǐ yuán, qiānnián shǒu xiāng qiān

The hundred-year dream has come true, what hands have grasped for a thousand years

中国走进新时代
zhōngguó zǒu jìn xīn shídài

China has entered a new era

Issued in 1998 in an album by Sūn Yuè 孙悦, this song marked the return of Hong Kong to mainland China. It was performed at the 1999 Chunwan.

8. Tonight is Unforgettable (难忘今宵 nánwàng jīnxiāo)

难忘今宵
nánwàng jīnxiāo

Tonight is unforgettable

难忘今宵
nánwàng jīnxiāo

Tonight is unforgettable

无论天涯与海角
wúlùn tiānyá yǔ hǎi jiǎo

It doesn’t matter if you are at the ends of the earth or sea

神州万里同怀抱
shénzhōu wànlǐ tóng huáibào

We are in the same embrace of our vast country

共祝愿祖国好
gòng zhùyuàn zǔguó hǎo

Wish the motherland well

告别今宵, 告别今宵
gàobié jīnxiāo gàobié jīnxiāo

Farewell tonight, farewell tonight

无论新友与故交
wúlùn xīn yǒu yǔ gùjiāo

Whether with new or old friends

明年春来再相邀
míngnián chūnlái zài xiāng yāo

Let us meet when next spring arrives 

青山在 人未老
qīng shān zài, rén wèi lǎo

The hills are green, we are still young 

共祝愿祖国好
gòng zhùyuàn zǔguó hǎo

Let us all wish the motherland well

“Tonight is Unforgettable” has been the closing song of the CCTV Spring Festival Gala for decades, and has become a symbol of Chunwan.

When the music starts, people will get up from their couches or leave their mahjong tables, walk to the kitchen, and eat tāngyuán 汤圆 (glutinous rice balls) or dumplings to officially usher in the first day of the lunar new year.

In 1984, Huáng Yīhè 黄一鹤, the director of the Chunwan that year, felt that a song was needed to match the gala’s vibe. He reached out to Qiao Yu, a lyricist with a great reputation, hoping that he could write the lyrics for the Chunwan’s closing piece. What Qiao came up with managed to combine family reunion with wishes for the motherland with love between relatives with hope for a good future.

“Tonight is Unforgettable” is the only song on this list that isn’t oft-played in stores and markets — not because it’s not good, but because it signals that feasts and gatherings are coming to an end, and it’s time to say goodbye.

Did we leave off your favorite song? In the comments below, tell us which ones you think of every Spring Festival.