BNE is a major gateway to Australia, particularly for passengers travelling from Asia. We celebrate many multi-cultural holidays throughout the terminals to create a festive vibe to help our passengers celebrate holidays that are special to them. Learn more about the traditional Chinese holidays that we celebrate throughout the year and what they mean.
Lunar New Year
Lunar New Year (or Chinese New Year as it is known to be referred to) is the New Year according to the moon’s activity and is run on a 12-year cycle. It is largely celebrated in Asian countries and is a global celebration. Each year is allocated an animal zodiac that lasts for almost 12 months based on the lunar cycle. This cycle is different to the universal zodiac signs, which are based on star constellations and a person's birth date.
25 January 2020 marks the 1,718th year of the traditional Chinese lunisolar calendar and welcomes the Year of the Rat. So, what does this mean exactly?
The rat represents a year of good fortune and wealth. People born in 1948, 1960, 1972, 1996, 2008 or 2020 fall under the year of the rat typically meaning they are optimistic, energetic souls whom enjoy living a quiet and peaceful life.
You may be accustomed to the Western concepts of a New Year – similarly, the Lunar New Year is immersed in traditions and the concept of unity. Traditionally, you’d share a meal with family and friends and an exchange of gifts in reflection of the year that’s passed and celebration of the one ahead. Red pockets containing gold coins are gifted as they hold strong symbolism of wealth, happiness and prosperity in Chinese culture. Red is also used as the primary colour of decorations.
These days, the holiday is often celebrated with the digitalised red envelopes exchanged over WeChat – transferring money to your bank account in real-time.
Why do we celebrate Lunar New Year at BNE? Why wouldn't you want to celebrate the New Year twice? As a bonus, the Lunar New Year lasts for 15 days – which is even better! Additionally, as a major gateway for Travellers from all around the world visiting family in Brisbane, we support the celebration of multi-cultural traditions throughout our terminals and city.
Golden Week
In China, seven continuous days of holiday are given to mainland residents to celebrate the forming of Chinese government and the victory of revolution. This holiday has the intention of encouraging domestic travel and improve the national standard of living by giving people time to make long-distance family visits. This makes Golden Week a very busy travel time for Chinese travellers - and BNE!
Why is it called Golden Week? This Chinese national holiday falls in China’s autumn season of clear skies, pleasant temperatures and golden colours making it the perfect season to travel and participate in traditional festivities with families and friends.
During this peak travel period, the number of passengers flying from China to Brisbane increases significantly and to welcome or farewell our passengers travelling during Golden Week, we embrace this holiday and celebrate in terminal with annual sales and giveaways.
Single's Day
Single’s Day is China’s – and the world's – largest annual online shopping day taking place on 11 November (11/11) every year. The date was chosen as the number 1 represents an individual who is alone and originally this holiday was created as a de-facto holiday for Chinese singles who were anti-Valentine’s Day. Since 2009, the holiday has been transformed in to a massive online shopping day with Single’s Day sales in 2018 reaching over $41.4 billion in 24 hours – trumping America’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined.