Chinese New Year culture integrates into lives of Cambodian people

Vendors are welcoming customers who buy Chinese New Year goods on Jan. 25, 2025, at Phnom Penh’s Orussey market in Cambodia. (Photo:China News Service/Xiang Xinyu)

(ECNS) -- Various lanterns, festive Chinese New Year paintings, and layered displays of candies and pastries... The Chinese New Year goods at Phnom Penh’s Orussey market in Cambodia have become a dazzling sight.

The market currently houses over 5,000 shops, with approximately 40 percent operated by Chinese business owners, according to the market's Deputy Manager, Sok Kimheng. He said that every year before the Spring Festival, many vendors import New Year goods from China.

Some vendors told China News Service that lanterns have been the best-selling items at their stalls in recent days. Local residents usually opt for lanterns to decorate their homes, while overseas Chinese tend to purchase large red lanterns to decorate their storefronts.

Locally inspired Chinese New Year goods are also in high demand. One of the most popular items is a “grain tower”. It features a golden Maneki-neko (beckoning cat), surrounded by five lucky pouches filled with red beans, green beans, soybeans, rice, and corn. During the Spring Festival, many Cambodian families buy the tower, wishing for abundant harvests and smooth prosperity in the coming year.

Cambodian Chinese families have a long-standing tradition of ancestral worship during the Spring Festival. In the corner of Phnom Penh's Orussey Market, several roasted suckling pig shops are clustered together, with many Chinese families coming early to reserve roasted suckling pig for their Chinese New Year’s Eve ancestral worship.

The local renowned temples host year-end thanksgiving ceremonies. People bring offerings such as fruit, pork and chicken.

From last Friday to last Sunday, the Federation of Khmer Chinese in Cambodia hosted “Welcoming the Chinese New Year: Cambodia-China Cultural Festivity” event. The event showcased unique Cambodian and Chinese cultural performances, including Cambodian traditional martial art Kun Lbokator, Chinese kung fu and Sichuan opera face-changing performances. It also displayed traditional Cambodian and Chinese cuisine, attracting a large crowd.

Fang Qiaosheng, chairman of the Federation of Khmer Chinese in Cambodia, pointed out that the successful inscription of the Chinese New Year on UNESCO's Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity highlights global recognition of Chinese culture.

The federation hopes that by organizing a series of events, more local people can join overseas Chinese in celebrating this traditional holiday.

Chen Zengyang, a overseas Chinese who has lived in Cambodia for 25 years, said that in recent years, the festive atmosphere of the Spring Festival in Cambodia has grown stronger. Chen said that local people actively participate in the celebrations, joining overseas Chinese in marking this important Chinese holiday.