Canthan New Year 2013
“It's time for the annual Canthan New Year Festival! Help honor the celestial animals as they descend from the sky to bestow good luck upon the populace for the coming year—but only if the traditional New Year's feast meets their high standards!
“
- Canthan New Year is almost here!
Check out the Canthan New Year Festival and explore all of the fun activities we have planned. This year, the festival will be extended to a full week, beginning on Thursday, January 31 at noon Pacific (GMT -8) and ending on Thursday, February 7 at noon Pacific (GMT -8). The event will culminate on Wednesday, February 6 with the traditional festivities in Shing Jea Monastery.
The adjustments to Canthan New Year mark the beginning of a few time and schedule changes to Guild Wars in-game events. Specifically, all major events will be extended to run for a week or longer, and they will be put on a fixed schedule. In some cases this will shift when event finales happen, but highly anticipated events like Halloween and Wintersday already fall on the same date annually and therefore won’t change. Looking to the future, you will be able to enjoy events for longer and can plan to attend without wondering when the events will occur.
The 2013 Canthan New Year was a special event and began at noon Pacific (-8 GMT) on Thursday, January 31st, 2013 and ended at noon Pacific (-8 GMT) on Thursday, February 7th, 2013. On Wednesday, February 6th, the Celestial Snake arrived every three hours to sample Canthan cuisine in Shing Jea Monastery.
Schedule[edit]
| PST (UTC-8) | UTC / GMT | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Noon, Thursday 31 January 2013 | 20:00, Thursday 31 January 2013 | Start of the event. |
| 12:01 am, Wednesday 6 February 2013 until 12:01 am, Thursday 7 February 2013 |
08:01, Wednesday 6 February 2013 until 08:01, Thursday 7 February 2013 |
Finales every 3 hours. (See accompanying chart.) |
| Noon, Thursday 7 February 2013 | 20:00, Thursday 7 February 2013 | End of the event. |
| PST (UTC-8) |
UTC / GMT (24 hr format) |
|---|---|
| 12:01 am | 08:01 |
| 3:01 am | 11:01 |
| 6:01 am | 14:01 |
| 9:01 am | 17:01 |
| 12:01 pm | 20:01 |
| 3:01 pm | 23:01 |
| 6:01 pm | 02:01 February 7 |
| 9:01 pm | 05:01 February 7 |
| 12:01 am February 7 |
08:01 February 7 |
Finale[edit]
Several chefs stood in Shing Jea Monastery. They collected specific ingredients during the finale. For each ingredient turned in, you received a Lunar Token from that chef. If no dishes were prepared successfully, everyone in the district were temporarily transformed by the Snake Form disguise.
| Imperial Chef Yan (Appetizers) |
Imperial Chef Reun (Salad) |
Imperial Chef Jiong (Soup) |
Imperial Chef Chen (Main Course) |
Imperial Chef Tian (Dessert) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Finale rewards[edit]
Below is a chart describing the amount of items the player received based on how many successful dishes were presented to the Celestial Snake:
| Successful Dishes |
 Red Gift Bag |
 Crate of Fireworks |
 Celestial Summoning Stone |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0† | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 |
| 2 | 6 | 0 | 2 |
| 3 | 9 | 0 | 3 |
| 4 | 12 | 0 | 4 |
| 5 | 16 | 5 | 5 |
† If no successful dishes were created, players will be temporarily turned into snakes.
Festival hat[edit]
Participation in one of the Celestial Snake appearances will earn you a festival hat:
 A festival hat resembling the head of a lion dance costume. |
Differences from 2012[edit]
- Ikura offered a new quest, Take My Sister, Please, which rewarded an Imperial Miniature Token. The token could be exchanged with Qili for any celestial miniature or a Lunar Festival Grab Bag.
- Racing Medals have replaced Lunar Tokens as rewards in Rollerbeetle Racing and can be traded to Little Jack for a Miniature World-Famous Racing Beetle. The number of Gamer points awarded in Rollerbeetle Racing was increased.
- Miniature Greased Lightning is no longer awarded.
- A Miniature Celestial Snake can drop from a "Lunar Fortune [Year of the Snake]".
- The Racing Beetle pet was introduced.
- Canthan New Year was extended from a weekend to a week long event. The finales no longer begin on a Sunday PST. Canthan New Year will now always begin on the fifth Thursday of the year.
- Guff Hufflebeak and Jiaru have new dialogues.
Festival events[edit]
“A grand feast, fireworks, dancing, fortunes, and high-stakes rollerbeetle racing—all this and more await you during the Canthan New Year Festival. Here's what you can expect:
- Satisfying the visiting celestial animal is a tall order, especially since every festival has a few unexpected problems for enterprising young adventurers to solve.
- Want a preview of the coming year? The fortune teller can peer into your future and provide you with a very real, and legally binding, fortune. For good or ill, your destiny will follow you out into the world beyond Shing Jea.
- Play games on the Shing Jea Boardwalk to earn tickets and boost your luck—or play to lose, and work your way down a different life track.
- Racing fans, make your way to the Rollerbeetle Racing Arena, where you'll be outfitted with your very own rollerbeetle racer, complete with its own set of racing skills.
- Head over to the Dragon Arena for a brawling good time.
- The Celestial Feast lets you participate in heated cooking competitions, where you'll help Canthan chefs prepare special dishes in honor of the annual visitor from the stars. Each properly prepared meal earns a reward from the celestial animal, but it's bad luck to annoy the beast!
- Lunar Tokens also randomly drop from PvE foes.
Decorated towns[edit]
Quests[edit]
Every festival brings with it a variety of problems that can only be solved by enterprising young adventurers willing to undertake a quest or two to ensure the festival runs smoothly. Supplies of everything from red dye (for Nian-scaring party attire) to fireworks (also used to frighten off the Nian) will inevitably run low. And, speaking of the Nian, you never know when, or where, these New Year's festival hating creatures might attack. (Note: these quests were only offered to characters that have reached level 5 or higher)
Sunqua Vale
Shing Jea Monastery
Plains of Jarin
or
NPCs[edit]
These Canthan New Year NPCs appear with Shing Jea Boardwalk event NPCs:
| Shing Jea Monastery | Lion's Arch | Kamadan, Jewel of Istan | Great Temple of Balthazar | Rollerbeetle Racing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
Collectors[edit]
| Name | Location | Collects | Campaign |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kao Tseng | Shing Jea Monastery | 25 Festival Tickets | Factions |
| Lunar Fortune Giver | Shing Jea Monastery | 3 Lunar Tokens | Factions |
| Lunar Gift Keeper | Shing Jea Monastery | 5 Lunar Tokens | Factions |
| Qili | Shing Jea Monastery | 1 Celestial Miniature Token | Factions |
| Seiji | Shing Jea Monastery | 5 Victory Tokens | Factions |
| Sheng Yi | Shing Jea Monastery | 10 Victory Tokens | Factions |
| Lunar Gift Keeper | Lion's Arch | 5 Lunar Tokens | Prophecies |
| Zaishen Supply Master | Lion's Arch | 5 Victory Tokens | Prophecies |
| Zaishen Supply Master | Lion's Arch | 10 Victory Tokens | Prophecies |
| Lunar Gift Keeper | Kamadan, Jewel of Istan | 5 Lunar Tokens | Nightfall |
| Zaishen Supply Master | Kamadan, Jewel of Istan | 5 Victory Tokens | Nightfall |
| Zaishen Supply Master | Kamadan, Jewel of Istan | 10 Victory Tokens | Nightfall |
| Little Jack | Rollerbeetle Racing | 200 Racing Medals | Core |
| Lunar Gift Keeper | Great Temple of Balthazar | 5 Lunar Tokens | Core |
| Zaishen Supply Master | Great Temple of Balthazar | 5 Victory Tokens | Core |
| Zaishen Supply Master | Great Temple of Balthazar | 10 Victory Tokens | Core |
Festival rewards[edit]
| Icon | Item |
|---|---|
 |
Sugary Blue Drink: It's sweet and oh-so-handy when you need a quick boost of speed. |
 |
Champagne Popper: A brief-but-spectacular treat for the eyes and ears. They're a blast! |
 |
Bottle Rocket: Set off a single-shot firework high overhead—please aim away from faces and moa birds. |
 |
Sparkler: Light this up to create a cloud of sparks over your head—stand clear of flammable objects. |
 |
Red Bean Cake: These sweet treats put some pep in your step. |
 |
Bottle of Rice Wine: The traditional festival beverage. Don't drink and quest! |
|
Red Gift Bag: It's festive, it's red, and you'll never know what's in it until you open it. |
 |
Lunar Fortune: Find out for sure how good or bad your luck will be in the coming year. |
 |
Lunar Token: Collect these tokens throughout the festival and trade them in for prizes. |
|
Crate of Fireworks: Open it inside your Guild Hall and move a safe distance away! |
|
Celestial Summoning Stone: Satisfy the celestial animal's appetite and you'll receive this reward at the end of a finale. |
 |
Miniature Celestial Snake: Possible drop from a Lunar Fortune. |
 |
Imperial Miniature Token: Useful for keeping the spirit of the celestial animals all year round. |
 |
Lunar Festival Grab Bag: Acquired in exchange for a Imperial Miniature Token. |
 |
Racing Medal: Awarded in Rollerbeetle Racing. |
 |
Miniature World-Famous Racing Beetle: Acquired in exchange for 200 Racing Medals. |
Notes[edit]
- The Canthan New Year finale often sees many guilds and alliances "sponsoring" a district - providing all the ingredients for the feast. To find out whether a district is being sponsored, look in party search, ask in chat or visit a fansite, for example GWGuru's list of hosted districts.
External links[edit]
Archived GuildWars.com Canthan New Year 2013 Event Page
| Special events | |
|---|---|
| Canthan New Year | 2007 • 2008 • 2009 • 2010 • 2011 • 2012 • 2013 • 2014 onward |
| April Fools' Day | 2007 • 2008 • 2009 • 2010 • 2011 • 2012 • 2013 • 2014 onward |
| Anniversary Celebration | 2nd • 3rd • 4th • 5th • 6th • 7th • 8th • 9th • 10th-14th • 15th onward |
| Dragon Festival | 2006 • 2007 (Redux) • 2008 • 2009 • 2010 • 2011 • 2012 • 2013 • 2014 onward |
| Wintersday in July | 2008 • 2009 • 2010 • 2011 • 2012 • 2013 • 2014 onward |
| Halloween | 2005 • 2006 • 2007 • 2008 (Redux) • 2009 • 2010 • 2011 • 2012 • 2013 • 2014 onward |
| Wintersday | 2005 • 2006 • 2007 • 2008 • 2009 (Redux) • 2010 • 2011 • 2012 • 2013 onward |
| Other annual events | Breast Cancer Awareness Month • Lucky Treats Week • Pirate Week Special Treats Week • Sweet Treats Week • Wayfarer's Reverie |
| One-time only events | Day of the Tengu • Farewell to Gaile |
