Planning a Chinese New Year company dinner: timing, lo hei and traditions

How to plan a Chinese New Year company dinner or lo hei lunch: when to hold it, the menu and lo hei, traditions to respect, including every colleague, and a running order.

A Chinese New Year company dinner is shorter and louder than a year-end gala, and it comes with traditions that guests notice when they are done well, and when they are not. This guide is about planning the dinner itself: when to hold it, the food, the customs, and how to make colleagues of every background feel part of it. For the games and the prize draw, see our Lunar New Year company dinner ideas.

When to hold it

The festive season runs fifteen days, from the first day of the new year to the Lantern Festival. Most companies pick one of three moments:

Before the holiday. A reunion-style dinner in the last week before the break. Good when many staff travel home and the office empties.
The first working week after. The classic "first gathering" of the year, often a lo hei lunch in the office or a nearby restaurant. Restaurants are busy but not yet fully booked.
Before the fifteenth day. A dinner in the second week, when restaurants are calmer and prices sometimes drop.

Book early. Chinese restaurants with round tables and a stage fill up two to three months ahead for this season, especially on Fridays.

The menu

A set menu of eight or nine courses is usual, and many dishes carry a wish in their name. Ask the restaurant which dishes they recommend for the season, and check:

Halal or pork-free options, if some colleagues need them. Many restaurants can do a full pork-free menu; it is easier than mixing menus at one table.
Vegetarian set menus for colleagues who do not eat meat in the first days of the year.
Alcohol: tea and soft drinks on every table, so nobody feels the toast is not for them.

Lo hei, the prosperity toss

In Malaysia and Singapore, the lo hei or yee sang salad is the moment everyone remembers. All the guests at a table toss the salad together with their chopsticks, as high as they can, calling out wishes. A few tips:

Serve it as the first course, so the energy starts high.
Ask the restaurant whether a server will add the ingredients and say the wishes, or whether a host at each table will.
Let the CEO or the most senior person lead the first wishes from the stage, then every table tosses at once.
Put napkins and an extra plate on every table. It gets messy, which is the point.

In other countries the same role is played by dumplings, a whole fish or long noodles; ask colleagues from each country what they would like to see.

Traditions to respect

Red packets. Married managers traditionally give red packets to unmarried staff. Some companies give one to every employee instead. Decide the company's approach in advance so nobody is embarrassed on the night.
Colours. Red and gold for decorations and the dress code; avoid white and black as the main colours.
Numbers. Eight is lucky and four is not. Prize tiers of 8 or 88 are popular; avoid four of anything and table number 4 where you can.
Gifts. Mandarin oranges come in pairs. Avoid clocks, sharp objects and shoes as prizes, which carry unlucky meanings.
Greetings. Learn two or three greetings in the dialects your colleagues speak, and put them on the big screen as guests arrive.

Including everyone

In many companies, half the staff do not celebrate the new year at home. A good company dinner is a celebration everyone can join, not a test of who knows the customs.

Explain each tradition in one line on the screen or by the emcee: what lo hei is, why oranges come in pairs.
Give colleagues who are new to it a role, such as leading a table's toss.
Keep the dress code open: festive colours, a cheongsam or qipao, a baju, a batik shirt or a kurta are all welcome.
Choose games where nobody has to know the traditions to win.

A running order for a two-and-a-half-hour dinner

Arrival, greetings and wishes on the big screen.
Opening words from the CEO.
Lo hei together, as the first course.
Dinner, with a short zodiac quiz between courses.
A red packet rain on every phone after the main course.
Best Dressed in festive colours, voted from phones.
The lucky draw, with the grand prize last.
Group photo and oranges at the door.

Our Lunar New Year ideas explains how to run each of these games, and our lucky draw ideas has a prize ladder you can adapt.

Budget tips

Lunch is often half the price of dinner and still feels festive with a lo hei.
A set menu per table is easier to budget than per person.
Ask suppliers and partners to sponsor prizes; it is a common custom this season.
Digital red packets and a red packet rain on phones cost less than printed envelopes and cash handled on the night.

The week before

Confirm the menu and the number of tables.
Brief the emcee on greetings, the lo hei and the order of the night.
Rehearse the screen games once with the committee.
Print the QR code for every table, so guests can join the games from their phones.

Try it free

The greetings wall, the quiz, the red packet rain, Best Dressed voting and the lucky draw all run in one Yaypick event, and you can try them free with up to 20 people. See also our annual dinner games.