MANILA: Every February, the streets of Binondo grow steadily more crowded as the Lunar New Year, also known to many as Chinese New Year, approaches.
As each week passes, Ongpin continues to attract more visitors, bringing the place to life with movement. Red lanterns hang overhead, restaurants brace for long queues, and families arrive in small groups — some heading to church, others straight to food stalls, many simply wanting to be part of the tradition.
An elderly woman lights incense at a temple. People move quickly through narrow streets, many heading to well-known shops selling freshly made tikoy and other Chinese favourites long embraced by Filipinos, such as hopia.
Office workers glance at their phones, checking if the day is a holiday. Not far away, others browse stalls filled with red and gold trinkets — lucky charms and “pangpa-swerte” — after reading online horoscopes that offer guidance for the Year of the Fire Horse, from auspicious colors to symbols believed to attract luck and prosperity.
This is how Lunar New Year is celebrated in the Philippines today. It extends beyond temples and Chinatown streets into the kitchens, workplaces, and daily routines of Filipino-Chinese families, as well as many non-Chinese Filipino households.
An Inquirer analysis of Google Trends data shows the celebration has evolved into a nationwide cultural rhythm shaped by place, belief, food, and community, observed not only within Filipino-Chinese homes but also by millions of Filipinos across regions and backgrounds.
To examine how Filipinos engage with the celebration, the report analyzed Google Trends data using six search terms closely tied to how the Lunar New Year is commonly observed in the country: “Binondo,” “Chinese New Year,” “Horoscope,” “Lucky charms,” “Lunar New Year,” and “Tikoy.” Each reflects a key aspect of the celebration — place, calendar, belief, ritual, identity, and food.
The analysis drew from several Google Trends indicators. Interest over time tracks search popularity on a scale from 0 to 100, where 100 represents peak interest within the selected period. Data reviewed covered two windows: the past week (Feb. 8–15, 2026) and the past five years (Feb. 2021–Feb. 2026).
Top and rising queries show what Filipinos searched alongside each term, including new or rapidly growing searches, with “breakout” indicating a surge of more than 5,000 per cent.
Meanwhile, interest by subregion maps, where searches were most concentrated, is also on a 0–100 scale — reflecting the proportion of searches rather than absolute volume.
Together, these indicators help illustrate not only how often Filipinos search for Lunar New Year, but how they experience it.
A celebration people travel for
Search behavior suggests that for many Filipinos, the Lunar New Year is not only something to observe. Instead, it is something to experience.
In the days leading to the celebration, interest in “Binondo” rose sharply, with searches dominated by practical, on-the-ground concerns: how to get there, where to eat, where to pray, and what to see.
Google Trends data shows that during the week leading to Lunar New Year, “Binondo” reached a peak search index of 100 in Metro Manila, with Calabarzon following at 35 and Central Luzon at 26, indicating that interest remained strongest near the capital but extended outward.
Search data also showed increased activity around practical travel-related queries. Among related searches, “Binondo Manila” and “Binondo Chinese New Year” reached the top index level of 100, while several transport- and location-focused queries recorded notable gains — patterns that suggest many users were looking for on-the-ground information commonly associated with planning visits, rather than purely seeking general knowledge about the celebration.
For many visitors, the trip is both cultural and personal. In a previous account of the wishing paper tradition, one participant described the ritual as carrying “the unwavering ability to manifest my hopes and wishes,” capturing the sense of intention and renewal that draws people to temples and sacred spaces during the season.
Earlier accounts have shown that visitors often come for three reasons: prayer, food, and fortune. Some light incense in temples and offer thanks for the past year. Others queue outside bakeries and restaurants for tikoy and traditional dishes. Many browse stalls selling charms and symbols believed to attract prosperity — small rituals that have long shaped how the New Year is welcomed in Binondo.
Scenes from past celebrations — lantern-lined streets, dragon and lion dances weaving through dense crowds, and long queues outside food shops — help explain why people continue to travel to the district year after year. The celebration is not only commemorated; it is walked through, heard, tasted, and lived.
Even practical searches, such as weather updates and maps, surfaced among trending queries, suggesting preparation for dense crowds and long hours outdoors, which is a familiar reality for anyone who has spent Lunar New Year in the country’s oldest Chinatown.
While Metro Manila recorded the highest search interest, activity also occurred across several regions, indicating that, although Binondo remains the symbolic center, the celebration inspires movement and participation far beyond the capital.
The pattern is clear: in the Philippines, the Lunar New Year is not simply marked on the calendar. It is a celebration people prepare for, travel to, and experience together in shared spaces.
More than a holiday
Across the country, search patterns suggest that the Chinese New Year is no longer viewed as a niche cultural observance but as a widely anticipated national moment that shapes daily life.
In the days leading to the celebration, many Filipinos turned to search engines for practical answers: the exact date, whether it was a holiday, and how it would affect work and school schedules.
Among the most searched were queries related to “Chinese New Year 2026,” its holiday status, and greetings traditionally exchanged during the occasion, reflecting how the celebration now intersects with everyday routines far beyond cultural communities.
Search data shows that “Chinese New Year” reached a peak index of 100 in Metro Manila during the period, while other regions also registered notable activity, including CALABARZON at 80, Central Luzon at 74, and Central Visayas at 67.
Top related searches, such as “Chinese New Year 2026,” “Chinese New Year holiday Philippines,” and traditional greetings, also reached index levels near 100, highlighting how the celebration shapes daily schedules and routines across the country.
Rising searches reflected a similar pattern. Related queries such as “Chinese New Year 2026,” “Chinese New Year holiday Philippines,” and traditional greetings registered high index values, while practical questions — including whether there would be classes, whether government offices would be open, and how to properly greet others during the occasion — also appeared alongside searches for customs and traditions.
The shift is not new. Earlier accounts of the celebration have described how the Chinese New Year has gradually entered the broader Filipino social calendar — marked not only by cultural rituals, but also by family gatherings, shared meals, and small traditions observed even in households without Chinese roots.
For Kim, not her real name, and her Filipino-Chinese family, the day signals a pause.
“Although it is a big and often busy day for us, it also offers a chance to reset, reflect, and begin again,” she told Inquirer.
Others come not from heritage, but from shared belief and tradition. Inquirer writer Jannaya Barrion, reflecting on celebrating despite not being Chinese, wrote: “Every year on Chinese New Year, without fail, my family rearranges the furniture according to what feng shui experts say will attract good luck.”
“We’re not Chinese. At least, not that I know of. And yet, red envelopes appear on the dining table. Lanterns hang by the door. Tikoy waits in the kitchen to be fried or given to relatives. We compare horoscopes over breakfast. We avoid sweeping on New Year’s Day, so we don’t “sweep away” wealth,” she said.
“We greet friends with Gong Xi Fa Cai. We prepare noodles for longevity. We give ang pao to children. We insist on twelve or thirteen round fruits — nothing less — lined up like offerings to a secure future. We talk about luck as if it is a visitor we can convince to stay, if only we follow the right rituals,” she added.
This sense of renewal continues to shape how Filipinos approach the occasion today. Many seek guidance through customs, greetings, and symbolic practices believed to usher in prosperity, health, and good fortune for the year ahead — a reflection of how the celebration has grown beyond ethnicity and into shared cultural experience.
The data, however, underscores a broader reality. Chinese New Year in the Philippines is no longer simply observed. It is anticipated, prepared for, and woven into the rhythm of national life — much like other major seasonal celebrations that bring families together and momentarily reshape the pace of everyday routines.
As Barrion puts it, “To be Filipino is to carry a mosaic of influences. Our culture was never sealed; it was shaped through encounter.”
“Celebrating Chinese New Year does not erase who we are. It highlights who we have always been — a people shaped by exchange, by trade, by migration, by coexistence. We are not trying to be Chinese. We are being Filipino in the way we have always been.”
A season of hope and fortune
Beyond travel and tradition, search patterns show another reason Filipinos turn their attention to the Lunar New Year: the search for meaning.
In the days leading up to the celebration, interest in horoscopes rose once again, with many looking up zodiac forecasts, compatibility readings, and yearly predictions.
Data shows that “Horoscope” reached an index value of 100 in Metro Manila during the period, while other regions also recorded notable activity, including Northern Mindanao at 84 and the Davao Region at 82.
Related queries connected to zodiac predictions, compatibility, and yearly forecasts also registered noticeable increases, suggesting that many users were seeking guidance and outlooks commonly associated with the start of the Lunar New Year.
For some, these readings are lighthearted. For others, they serve as guidance. In a 2024 piece published by Lifestyle.INQ, Colleen Cosme, who — like Barrion — is not of Chinese descent, described the tradition of writing wishes on paper and offering them in prayer as holding “the unwavering ability to manifest my hopes and wishes,” capturing how the celebration often becomes a moment of quiet reflection and intention.
“While I am not of Chinese descent, year after year, I am compelled to engage in this ritual not merely as a nod to tradition, but because of the recurring pattern where my wishes appear to materialize with each passing year,” she detailed.
“The decision to participate in the Chinese New Year Wishing Paper tradition each year is deeply personal, rooted in a series of experiences that have convinced me of its efficacy. Time and again, I have witnessed the manifestation of my wishes in ways that defy rational explanations. From career advancements to personal breakthroughs and serendipitous encounters, the outcomes I have experienced following this ritual have left an indelible mark on my belief system,” she added.
She noted, however, that beyond visible results, the ritual carries a deeper meaning — an act of faith and surrender, where writing wishes and releasing them symbolizes trust in fate and openness to what lies ahead.
“In a world often characterized by uncertainty and chaos, the Chinese New Year Wishing Paper tradition offers a moment of clarity and connection to something greater than ourselves. It serves as a reminder that amidst life’s trials and tribulations, there is always room for hope and renewal,” she explained.
This sense of renewal is familiar to many Filipinos. Whether through prayer, family gatherings, or symbolic rituals, the New Year is often seen as a turning point, a chance to leave behind the past and welcome better fortunes ahead.
As Barrion reflected in a separate account: “Chinese New Year, in our hands, becomes more than a borrowed tradition. It becomes a ritual of renewal. A collective pause. A moment to believe that prosperity can come, that debts can be paid, that relationships can be healed, that the year ahead can be kinder than the last.”
Luck, rituals, and everyday belief
Search interest in lucky charms and prosperity symbols reveals another layer of the Filipino celebration: the enduring belief in pangpa-swerte.
Data shows that search interest for “Lucky charms” reached an index value of 100 in Metro Manila during the period, while other regions also registered notable activity, including Western Visayas at 80, Central Luzon at 68, and Central Visayas at 46, which indicates that searches related to prosperity symbols were observed across multiple parts of the country.
Rising queries included lucky colors, prosperity symbols, and feng shui-related items, several of which recorded marked week-on-week increases.
Many search for lucky colors, auspicious symbols, and items believed to attract prosperity — from red decorations and gold ornaments to coins tied with red ribbons, jade bracelets, and small figurines placed inside homes and businesses.
Others look up traditional practices meant to welcome abundance, such as displaying round fruits for prosperity, keeping doors and windows open to invite good fortune, and avoiding negative words or actions on New Year’s Day.
Across homes and communities, these rituals reflect a shared belief: that how one begins the year may shape what follows.
For some families, these practices are inherited and passed down quietly from grandparents to grandchildren. For others, they are newly embraced traditions, simple acts of hope performed at the start of the year.
In many households, preparation itself becomes part of the ritual. Families clean their homes to sweep away misfortune, prepare symbolic dishes, wear auspicious colors, and gather for reunion meals believed to strengthen bonds and invite harmony. Decorations in red and gold are placed around doors and dining tables, while offerings of food and incense are made in gratitude and prayer.
Hosting and sharing also form part of the celebration. Some families organise small gatherings, serve traditional foods, exchange gifts, and observe customs meant to invite luck and togetherness. Even in modern settings, these practices continue through quiet gestures of faith, gratitude, and optimism repeated each year.
Beyond Binondo, across the country
While Binondo remains the symbolic center of the celebration, search patterns show that interest in the Lunar New Year extends far beyond Manila.
Google Trends data indicates that Metro Manila recorded the highest search interest across key terms, reaching the peak index of 100. But strong engagement was also evident in other regions. For searches related to “Chinese New Year,” Calabarzon registered an index of 80 over the past week, followed by Central Luzon at 74 and Central Visayas at 67, suggesting that attention to the celebration is not confined to the capital.
Other related searches revealed similarly broad participation. Interest in traditions and symbolic practices showed high engagement in Northern Mindanao (index 84), the Davao Region (82), and Mimaropa (80). Searches connected to food and customary items also appeared strongly across Central Luzon, Western Visayas, and the Cordillera Administrative Region, reinforcing the nationwide reach of the occasion.
These regional patterns suggest that while many still travel to Binondo, the celebration itself is lived simultaneously across multiple communities and in homes, markets, and local gatherings far from Manila’s Chinatown.
The broader scale of observance mirrors a wider regional reality. Across Asia, the Lunar New Year is one of the most widely celebrated cultural traditions, observed by hundreds of millions of people each year, with communities marking the occasion through family reunions, rituals, and shared festivities.
In the Philippines, that collective rhythm is reflected locally, in provinces and cities where traditions continue to be practiced in both old and evolving forms.
The taste of tradition
If belief gives the celebration meaning, food gives it life.
Search interest in “Tikoy” reached index 100 in Metro Manila, with Central Luzon registering 64 and Calabarzon 75, reflecting the dish’s continued importance across regions during the celebration.
Related food searches — including recipes, cooking methods, and prices — also registered notable increases in the days leading to the Lunar New Year. Among commonly searched queries, “cook tikoy” reached a search interest index of 86, while “how to cook tikoy” posted 63 and “tikoy price” 58, reflecting strong online activity around the preparation and purchase of traditional festive food during the period.
Food, too, carries meaning beyond the table. Sticky rice cakes such as tikoy symbolize family unity and rising fortune, while noodles represent long life. Fish is served for abundance, dumplings for wealth, and sweet delicacies for harmony — small culinary traditions that many Filipino households, even those without Chinese roots, have come to observe year after year.
Even the way food is presented reflects belief. Round fruits, often displayed on tables and in homes, are said to resemble coins and symbolise wealth and completeness, while sweet treats are shared to invite harmony and a hopeful beginning.
Across Filipino households, these dishes are more than festive fare. They are traditions repeated each year — cooked, shared, and passed down — linking generations through taste, memory, and meaning.
More than nourishment, the meal becomes a ritual, highlighting the gathering of families, a celebration of continuity, and a quiet expression of hope for the year ahead.
A celebration shaped by history and by Filipinos
Numbers help explain why the Lunar New Year continues to resonate across the Philippines.
Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority’s 2020 Census of Population and Housing shows that of the country’s 108.67 million household population, 230,917 individuals reported foreign ethnicity.
Among them, those of Chinese descent accounted for 102,577 — or 44.4 per cent — the largest share among all foreign ethnic groups. The figures reflect the long-standing presence of Chinese communities in the country and their enduring cultural influence.
The broader regional picture helps place this presence in context. In a recent analysis of global Chinese diaspora patterns, University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman associate professor and INQUIRER data scientist Dr. Rogelio Alicor Panao noted that while the Philippines does not have the largest overseas Chinese population in absolute terms, its role is nonetheless significant.
“The Chinese Filipino community is deeply embedded in commerce, culture, and everyday social life, making it one of the region’s most integrated diasporas,” Panao wrote.
He explained that diaspora networks often shape not only economic activity but also social and cultural exchange, with “people-to-people ties and economic exchanges” helping sustain connections across borders.
At the same time, he noted that cultural closeness does not always translate to political alignment, observing that “cultural proximity and political confidence often diverge.”
From community tradition to shared celebration
Over centuries, the Chinese presence in the Philippine archipelago grew through trade, migration, and settlement. Long before colonial rule, merchants from southern China were already exchanging silk, ceramics, and spices for local goods in coastal communities.
By the early 17th century, migration increased as Chinese traders and craftsmen were drawn to economic opportunities in Manila, where commercial networks steadily expanded.
Spanish authorities later formalised this presence, establishing Binondo in 1594 as a settlement for Chinese migrants who converted to Catholicism and became part of Manila’s growing commercial life. From these early communities emerged enduring cultural practices, including Lunar New Year observances, which were preserved within families and gradually adapted to local realities over generations.
As Chinese merchants, artisans, and later Chinese-Filipino families became woven into urban and economic life, their traditions — from food and rituals to seasonal celebrations — continued to evolve alongside Filipino customs, shaping a shared cultural landscape that remains visible today.
What began as a celebration largely observed within Chinese communities slowly expanded into a shared cultural practice.
In cities like Manila, especially in historic Binondo — often regarded as the world’s oldest Chinatown — the celebration became part of the broader Filipino festive calendar, marked by food, rituals, and family gatherings across generations.
Across five years of Google search patterns, interest in the Chinese New Year has shown a clear and recurring seasonal surge. Data indicates that search activity consistently rises as January turns to February, with peak index levels approaching 90 to 100 during the Lunar New Year period across multiple related terms.
For example, search interest in “tikoy” reached 91 during peak weeks before falling back to low or single-digit levels in off-season months, a pattern repeated annually across the dataset.
Yet beyond the data lies something more human.
In the Philippines, the Lunar New Year is not defined by a single community. It is a prayer whispered in a crowded temple. A family gathered over tikoy. A wish written quietly for the year ahead. A belief, shared across cultures, that renewal is always possible.
Over time, the celebration has been shaped not only by history but by the Filipinos who continue to live it, adapt it, and pass it on. - Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN
