Lunar New Year offers social media influencers a chance to blend past and present traditions

Social media influencers see the Lunar New Year as an opportunity to showcase the deep significance of cultural traditions through food, innovation and community.

NEW YORK -- To celebrate Lunar New Year, Eric Wang hosted a 12-course dinner for family and friends on Saturday at his private supper club – 81 Eating Club – to highlight Chinese dishes like Cha Siu Pork and Clay Pot Rice.

Maddy Park celebrated with a bowl of hot tteokguk soup, the traditional Korean rice cake soup dish that people eat during the morning of the New Year. She then hosted a dumpling-making brunch, where she dropped dumplings into the simmering tteokguk while wearing hanbok, traditional Korean attire.

For Jonathan Ye, the Chinese New Year’s Eve dinner is the meal he looks forward to the most every year. Growing up with a big family, Ye returns to Wenzhou each year to celebrate the holiday. With more than 20 family members at the table, Ye can always taste a variety of Chinese cuisines that are both exquisite and delicious. And from there, he gets inspired to recreate the authentic flavors of these cuisines.

Wang, Park and Ye are social media influencers living in New York City who, with collectively more than 1 million TikTok followers, see the New Year as an opportunity to showcase the deep significance of cultural traditions through food, innovation and community.