Like most other New Year celebrations in various cultures and traditions, Chinese New Year too is very closely to a number of very festive features! The bright red colors in the beautiful traditional ornaments and dresses, the small glossy red envelopes with money in it (known as ang pao), the Barong Say, the beautiful lanterns, firecrackers, the powerful dances, and so much more!

In Bali, Chinese New Year happens to be made even more interesting by the fact that at some Buddhist temples and communities it happens to be held in a slightly different way than other places around Indonesia, or worldwide.

Some Chinese temples or viharas offers this distinct blend of traditions as they have merged the Balinese Hindu culture with their Buddhism belief, resulting in some pretty specific features resembling the ones presented in the Balinese Hinduism. One of the Buddhist temples where you can witness and experience this is Vihara Dharmayana on Jalan Blambangan, Kuta.

Other virahas that you can visit for Chinese New Year, locally more often referred to as Imlek, are Vihara Buddha Dharma (Buddhayana) in Seminyak, Vihara Buddha Guna at the iconic Puja Mandala complex in Nusa Dua, Ling Gwan Kiong near the old harbor of Singaraja in North Bali, Brahma Vihara Arama (Buddhist Monastery) situated in Banjar district, also in Singaraja, and the big vihara on the toll road entrance on the Benoa side, that you might have spotted as it lights up like a Christmas tree even during any other regular day of the year.

If you haven't checked your holiday calendar yet, Chinese New Year falls on February 8, 2016. And while all the viharas have their own specific schedules for their celebration, most of the happenings take place in the evening one day before Imlek and during the day of Imlek.

For a little preview of what happened during Chinese New Year in Kuta a couple years ago you can check out this video that shows all the fun we had then! Enjoy!