New Year's resolutions already failed? Missing the celebratory cheer that defines early January? Well, help is at hand. What better excuse to bring back the party spirit than Chinese New Year? Turn Cambridge into your very own Chinatown. And once the revelries are over, you'll have a brand new chance to start afresh. New year, new you: take two.

1. Bubble on down

Bubbly with a difference or pimped up tea? Whatever it is, commence festivities with a bubble tea from Ooshi on Regent Street or Hong Kong Fushion on St John’s Street. With flavours ranging from lychee to blueberry to jasmine, you’ll be spoilt for choice.

2. Time to look (red) hot

Associated with joy, happiness, wealth and good fortune, red is simply THE colour to wear. With such illustrious connotations I don't know why we don’t wear it all year round. Opt for silk if at all possible and pair with gold to be on to a winner.

3. Get the party started

Pour two shots of vodka over ice (it is new year after all), add a splash of grenadine syrup and top with pineapple juice. Decorate with a paper umbrella and drink with festive cheer. Repeat.

4. Knock up a cracking feast

Red chillies mean good luck. Rice ensures harmony. BOGOF with this scrummy recipe: marinade chicken overnight in garlic, ginger, lime juice, fresh coriander and sweet chilli sauce. To cook, remove the chicken from the marinade and cook in a hot pan. Heat the marinade in a separate pan, adding chicken stock before thickening with cornflour. Serve with rice. To really impress, serve with prawn crackers and finish with fortune cookies.

Or if all else fails, make a visit to the local takeaway. I won’t tell if you don’t.

5. Make sweet music

The Chinese fondness for karaoke is renown. If you can’t beat them, join them. Take a trip to Hills Road’s Sesame to belt out some cracking tunes. If you’re feeling uneasy, refer back to step three. And maybe double shot quantities. 

6. The morning after

Just because the festivities are over doesn’t mean you have to stop there. In a final hurrah, knock yourself up this restorative oriental Bloody Mary. Mix tomato juice with chilli, horseradish, lemon juice, celery salt and some Worcestershire sauce (sorry, had to be done). Oh, and don’t forget the vodka. Make it a double: the horse has already bolted, no point in locking the stable door. Pour over ice. You may be shaken but this is most definitely stirred – with a spring onion for full effect.

Go for it. Gallop into the Year of the Horse with gusto.