Hop to it: celebrating Lunar New Year in Knightsbridge

Harvey Nichols is raising a toast to the Lunar New Year with the launch of three limited-edition cocktails in its Fifth Floor Bar. Choose from a Lunar Love, made with Plantation rum, crème de fraise, ginger syrup and cranberry juice, a Bunny Blues, made with Ketel One vodka, blue curaçao and vanilla syrup, or a Sake Sunrise, crafted from Isake sake, pomegranate syrup and orange juice. The cocktails cost £13 each and are available until 5 February. Bottoms up!

Harvey Nichols, 109-125 Knightsbridge, SW1X 7RJ

Chinese New Year is also known as Spring Festival, something Harrods has taken to heart with the launch of a new seasonal menu that runs from January until Easter. Available at Harrods Tea Rooms, the Spring Festival Afternoon Tea features classic finger sandwiches and sweet treats with Asian-inspired flavours, such as sesame, jasmine and turmeric. There’s also a wide selection of fragrant China teas, carefully selected by the Harrods tea tailor (yes, it’s a job) to accompany each course. What’s more, there’s a vegan version available for people who don’t eat meat, fish or dairy or who may be taking part in Veganuary. Harrods’ Spring Festival Afternoon Tea is priced at £65 per person and is available from 4 January to 12 April.

Book your place here. Harrods, 87-135 Brompton Road, SW1X 7XL  

The luxury British fashion brand has launched an extensive Year of the Rabbit collection for men, women and children. The contemporary bunny print appears on everything from dresses and scarves to handbags and baseball caps, but our pick is this beautiful scarf.

Rabbit wool silk scarf, £280; Burberry, 1 Sloane Street, SW1X 9LA

Established in Hong Kong in 1963, Mandarin Oriental may be a global brand these days but the luxury hotel group is proud of its Asian roots. For Chinese New Year 2023, the Knightsbridge branch of the five-star hotel has created a limited-edition cocktail, the Rabbit’s Fortune Cocktail (priced at £21), made with rooibos and ginseng–infused tequila, kumquat liqueur and carrot and lime juice, which will be served in Mandarin Bar until the end of January. Elsewhere, The Rosebery will replace one of the sweet treats on its Winter Afternoon Tea menu with a Chinese-inspired pastry of tapioca, coconut and clementine jelly. Finally, on Thursday 26 January from 2:30pm, guests will be entertained (and gifted fortune cookies) by a traditional red lion performing in the public areas of the hotel.

Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, London, 66 Knightsbridge, SW1X 7LA

The colour red symbolises good fortune in Chinese culture. So pick yourself a lucky red handbag at this independent women’s brand.

Maya Mignon Orinoco ‘croc’ print calf leather handbag in red, £675; Lalage Beaumont, 58 Beauchamp Place, SW3 1NZ

Who wouldn’t love receiving a limited-edition box of delicious and beautifully decorated macarons?

Lunar 18 macarons gift box, £50; Ladurée, available at Harrods, 87-135 Brompton Road, SW1X 7XL  

What would a Chinese New Year celebration be without a bottle of Baijiu? This traditional fermented spirit has been China’s national beverage for more than 5,000 years, and Fenjiu is the country’s oldest Baijiu. Just one drop of Fenjiu Fen Chiew 10 Year Old, the distillery promises, is like travelling back in time to China in 200 AD.

Fenjiu Fen Chiew 10 Year Old Baijiu, £70, available at Harvey Nichols, 109-125 Knightsbridge, SW1X 7RJ