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Chinese Festivals and Activities 

The Chinese observe a variety of traditional and modern holidays based on either the lunar or the solar calendar. Traditional Chinese calendars are on a lunar cycle: dates follow the regular appearance of the full moon. With the international use of the Gregorian Calendar, holidays such as the birthdays of national leaders or special events are now recorded in the more modern fashion.

Lunar Calendar of Events

Spring Festival or Chinese New Year (1st day of the 1st lunar month) This is the most celebrated festival in China and is as important to the Chinese as Christmas is to Westerners. Chinese New Year starts with the New Moon on the first day of the new year and ends on the full moon 15 days later. The 15th day of the new year is called the Lantern Festival, which is celebrated at night with lantern displays and children carrying lanterns in parades.

New Year's Eve and New Year's Day are celebrated as a family affair, a time of reunion and thanksgiving. The celebration was traditionally highlighted with a religious ceremony given in honor of Heaven and Earth, the gods of the household and family ancestors. The presence of the ancestors is acknowledged on New Year's Eve with a dinner arranged for them at the family banquet table. The spirits of the ancestors, together with the living, celebrate the onset of New Year as one great community. The communal feast called "surrounding the stove" or weilu symbolizes family unity and honors the past and present generations.

Along with family reunions and banquets, the New Year is ushered in with firecrackers and rockets. Customs for the New Year include enjoying sumptuous family feasts and giving friends and relatives red envelopes containing "lucky money."

According to Chinese tradition, the entire house should be cleaned before New Year's Day. On New Year's Eve, all brooms, brushes, dusters and dust pans are put away, and sweeping or dusting should not be done for fear that good fortune will be swept away. After New Year's Day, the floors may be swept. Beginning at the door, the dust and rubbish are swept to the middle of the parlor, then placed in the corners and not thrown out until the fifth day. Rubbish in the corners should not be trampled upon! In sweeping, there is a superstition that if you sweep the dirt out over the threshold, you will also be sweeping away one of the family members. Also, to sweep the dust and dirt out of the house by the front entrance is to sweep away the good fortune of the family. Dirt and dust should always be swept inwards and then carried out, then no harm will follow. All dirt and rubbish must be taken out the back door.

Shooting off firecrackers on New Year's Eve is the Chinese way of sending out the old year and welcoming in the new. At the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve, every door in the house, and even the windows, are opened to allow the old year to pass out. Superstitious Chinese also believe they should not wash their hair on New Year's Day because it would mean they are washing away good luck for that year.

Red clothing is preferred during this festive season. Red is considered a bright, happy color, sure to bring the wearer a sunny and bright future. It is believed that appearance and attitude during New Year's celebrations set the tone for the rest of the year.

Lantern Festival (Yuanxiao jie) (15th day of the 1st lunar month)

The 15th day of the 1st lunar month is the Chinese Lantern Festival because the first lunar month is called yuan -month, and in the ancient times people called night Xiao. The 15th day is the first night to see a full moon, so the day is also called Yuan Xiao Festival. According to Chinese tradition, at the very beginning of a new year, when there is a bright full moon hanging in the sky, there should be thousands of colorful lanterns hung out for people to appreciate.

And yes, lanterns are hanging everywhere on this date! Traditionally, Chinese parents prepared lanterns for their children to carry to school during the first days of the New Year. This symbolized their hope that the children would have bright futures. Another interesting tradition is the posting of riddles called 'Lantern Riddles.' They are written on pieces of paper and posted on lanterns or walls, and anyone solving the riddle is awarded a prize.

Yuanxiao is the special food for the Lantern Festival. It is a kind of dumpling made with sticky rice flour filled with a sweet stuffing. The Festival is actually named after the famous dumpling.

Moon Festival (15th day of the 8th lunar month)

Sometimes called the Mid-Autumn Festival, this holiday dates back to the Tang dynasty, 618 A.D., and celebrates the biggest and brightest full moon of the year, the harvest moon. As with many Chinese celebrations, there are ancient legends to explain the holiday. The Chinese were, and still are, an agricultural society. In ancient times, they planted and harvested by the lunar calendar, using the moon as an important time reference and guide.

One of the legends surrounding the Moon Festival is about an architect named Hou Yih. Hou Yih built a beautiful jade palace for the Goddess of the Western Heaven. The Goddess was so happy that she gave Hou Yih a special pill that contained the magic elixir of immortality. But with it came the condition and warning that he may not use the pill until he had accomplished certain duties.

Hou Yih had a beautiful wife named Chang-O. Chang-O was as curious as she was beautiful. One day she found the pill and without telling her husband, she swallowed it. The Goddess of the Western Heaven was very angry and as a punishment, Chang-O was banished to the moon where, according to the legend, Chang-O can be seen in her most beautiful glory on the night of the bright harvest moon.

The Moon Festival is a big holiday with family reunions, moon gazing activities, and feasting on "moon cakes," which are round pastries filled with red bean paste, fruit or jam.

The Double Ninth Festival  (Chongyang) (9th day of the 9th lunar month)

This festival is based on the theory of Yin and Yang, the two opposing principles in nature. Yin is feminine, a negative principle, while Yang is masculine and positive. The ancients believed that all natural phenomena could be explained by this theory. The ninth day of the ninth lunar month is a day when the two Yang numbers meet, so it is called Chongyang. Chong means double in Chinese.

The festival is held in autumn during harvest time. Many people go hiking and climbing in the country, enjoying the colors before winter sets in. During the Western Han Dynasty, people used to climb a high platform outside the capital city of Chang'an during the Chongyang Festival, and so the custom evolved into its present form.

But what about people who live far from any mountain? The problem is solved by going for a picnic and eating cakes. The Mandarin word for cake is Gao, a homonym of the Chinese word for high. Mountains are high, so eating cake can, by a stretch of the imagination, take the place of going for a climb.

Since nine is the highest odd digit number, people like to think of a pair of two nines as signifying longevity. Therefore, the ninth day of the ninth month has become a special day for people to pay their respects to the elderly and a day for the elderly to enjoy themselves. It has also been declared China 's day for the elderly.

Official Chinese Holidays
(based on the Gregorian Calendar)

New Year's Day (January 1st)

Overshadowed by the upcoming Chinese New Year, which usually falls within a few weeks later, January I New Year's Day is not as popular in China as it is in other parts of the world. However, there are parties everywhere, in parks, dancing halls and universities.

International Women's Day (March 8th)

Some employers actually provide their women employees with a paid day of leave on this date. You can also find special TV programs that highlight women's contributions and accomplishments.

Tree-Planting Day (Arbor Day) (April 1st)

Highly promoted after the late 70's by the reformist government, it has yet to become a well recognized public holiday.

International Labor Day (May 1st)

This special holiday is no less celebrated than Chinese New Year's Day. Prompted by economic development and commercialization, employees are granted five days paid leave so that they can tour the country and do their shopping. Parades and organized parties have become a tradition. For travelers, it's a nightmare getting around China country during time!

Youth Day (May 4th)

This day commemorates the first mass student movement of 1919a that touched off by the then Chinese government that gave in to the Japanese government's attempt to colonize Shandong Province . It is also an anti-Confucius movement as well as one that promoted the western scientific and democratic ideas. Today, youth rallies are rare, but parties and picnic outings are gaining popularity.

Children's Day (June 1st)

This is obviously a very popular holiday with Chinese children. Access to almost all entertainment and educational facilities, such as cinemas, parks and children's museums, is free. Elementary schools throw parties while parents shower their kids with presents.

The CCP's Birthday (July 1st)

This day commemorates the 1921 founding of the Chinese Communist Party in Shanghai . It's usually characterized by front page editorials from major government news papers, along with nationalistic musicals and TV shows.

Army's Day (August 1st)

A communist-led army staged the first armed uprising against the Nationalists on August 1, 1927 . It is regarded as the beginning of the Red Army (later the People's Liberation Army). The anniversary is now used to promote better relationships between the army and civilians, a tradition believed to have helped win the civil war against the Nationalists in1949.

Teacher's Day (September 10th)

It was started in the early eighties as an effort to reverse the anti-intellectual sentiment nurtured by the Cultural Revolution . It has become an established holiday; however, it has yet to become a paid-leave day for the teachers.

National Day (October 1)

This holiday commemorates the anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949. Celebrations have gone through different phases in history. Before the 1960s, there were regular parades during the day and firework shows during the night in major cities. Later, the celebration was reduced to organized parties in parks. Beginning from the 1980's there have been grand parades during the Deng Xiaoping and Jiang Zemin eras. Beginning from the late 1990s, Chinese employees have been given a week-long paid leave so that they can travel and spend money to beef up the economy. Both May 1 and October 1 weeks are called huangjinzhou , or "a week of gold." Fireworks and parties are an integral part of the first day of this week of gold.