As the Year of the Dog approaches on the Chinese calendar — arriving on February 16, 2018 — perhaps now is the time to plan, and take, that bucket list trip to China you’ve been contemplating. The Chinese New Year/Spring Festival is a one-of-a-kind annual celebration in the Chinese capital that brings everyone to the party and turns the town red.

The color for luck in China is red. During the Chinese New Year, red is everywhere — from lanterns and scrolls decorating city buildings, to envelopes filled with Chinese Yuan, given to delighted children. Red fireworks explode merrily everywhere you look, marking good luck in the New Year. The busiest travel time of the year (think Thanksgiving in the U.S.), it’s an occasion for families to get together for four days around New Year’s Day. Celebrations for Beijing’s 2018 Chinese New Year Festival/Spring Festival are February 15-21.

If crowds of happy locals celebrating in the streets, Temple Fairs (complete with dragon and lion dances), massive fireworks displays, live music performances and street fairs are your idea of a cultural experience (it is definitely ours), then visiting Beijing for Chinese New Year is for you. If a less crowded experience is more your style, consider seeing Beijing — and the nearby Great Wall of China —at a less busy time of year.