Red envelopes and firecrackers are strewing the streets of Chinatown, bowls of incense and fruit are lining the front of your favourite Chinese diner, and before you can say kung hei fat choi (Chinese for 'happy new year'), there's a lion dancing in your doorway.
This is the year of the snake, a sign of introspection and intuitiveness but also stylishness and exceptional good taste — Jessica Mauboy, David Wenham, and Audrey Hepburn are just a few of the characters born under it.
Whether you're keen as a cracker to cheer on the parade floats, dying to slip on your glad rags for the jazzy Dragon Ball, or just want to gorge yourself on a Lunar Feast, you'll find it on our list of top ten things to do during Chinese New Year 2013.