Chinese Traditional Festivals and Holidays: 2023-2024 Calendar

As one of the four ancient civilization nations in the world, China has a history of over 5,000 years which has witnessed the creation of various traditional festivals. Most traditional festivals date back to the Remote Ages of China and formed by sacrificial worships or superstitions. From the most prosperous Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907), traditional festivals were liberated from original sacrifice and became more entertaining and dynamic with increasingly shaped folk customs. With diverse themes and rich ceremonies, traditional festivals that clearly recorded the colorful social life, are an indispensable and brilliant part of Chinese culture. In line with the long history, traditional festivals are a precious spiritual and cultural heritage.

Though Chinese ways of living have kept changing through the years, the significance of those traditional festivals in Chinese lives hasn’t grown weak. The modern style elements added in some festivals just endow the festival with more vitalities. Every single traditional festival has its own unique origins and way of celebrating. Even the same traditional festival is celebrated in a somewhat different way, according to the varied custom of different dynasties in Chinese history. In addition to the ethnic, historic, linguistic, and geographic bonds that unite all the minority people groups in China, traditional festivals are another strong tie strengthening the cultural cohesion of the Chinese nation.

China is a multi-ethnic state, and each ethnic group has its own cultural custom and numerous ethnic festivals, which is another cultural treasure to be discovered. The traditional festivals below are mainly for Han Chinese, while the public holidays are for all ethnic groups.

Table of Contents:

• The Spring Festival (Chinese Lunar New Year)
• The Lantern Festival
• The Qingming Festival (The Tomb-Sweeping Day)
• The Dragon Boat Festival
• The Qixi Festival (The Double Seventh Festival)
• The Mid-Autumn Festival
• The Double Ninth Festival
• The Winter Solstice Festival
• Chinese Traditional Festivals Timetable 2023-2026
• Public Holidays in China
• China Public Holiday Schedule 2023-2024

Chinese Name: 春节 Chūn Jié
Dates: 1st - 15th of the first lunar month

The Spring Festival, aka Chinese New Year, is the most important of all the annual festivals in China, which indicates a new year on the traditional Chinese lunar calendar and manifests the longing for a new life. Associated with the legend and folklore, the festival was originally a time to worship deities and show respect to ancestors. Like Christmas in the west, the spring festival brings family, friends, and relatives together, talking with each other, drinking, cooking, and enjoying a grand banquet. This custom bonds different generations in a family and indeed the nation jointly. The eve preceding Chinese New Year's Day (1st of the first lunar month), is typically treated as an occasion for Chinese families to reunite for the annual dinner. The joyful atmosphere would come to a climax when the firecrackers are lit at midnight between New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.

As Chinese people believe red is a propitious color, everywhere is dominated by red items during the festival, such as the red Chinese lanterns hung in the streets, the red paper-cuts decorated on windows, and the couplets pasting on doors. Favored themes of those paper-cuts and couplets include happiness, good fortune, wealth, and longevity. It is also a tradition for every family to completely clean their house, which implies their desire to clear away any misfortune and to make way for good luck. Within China, local traditions are different in the matter of the celebration for the Chinese New Year. Other activities include lighting firecrackers or fireworks, exchanging red envelopes of money, eating jiaozi, joining the Temple Fair, enjoying local live performances such as “Yangge” in Shaanxi and the Lion Dance in Guangdong.

Chinese Name: 元宵节 Yuán Xiāo Jié
Date: 15th day of the first lunar month

Falling on the Lunar New Year’s first full moon, the Lantern Festival marks the end of the traditional Chinese New Year celebrations. As one of the most significant festivals in China, it has been observed by people for over 2,000 years. The festival is actually rooted in the ancient tradition of lighting lanterns. As early as the Han Dynasty (206 BC - 220 AD), when Buddhism was brought to China, Emperor Ming noticed Buddhist monks would light lanterns in temples on the full moon of the first lunar month, thus he commanded the imperial palace and all temples to light lanterns on that evening for popularizing Buddhism. From the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907AD) when Buddhism played a dominant role, lighting lanterns developed into a folk custom and became a tradition for Chinese people. From there on, the Lantern Festival was shaped.

On the night of the Lantern Festival, people go out to watch colorful lanterns of various shapes, solve riddles on the lanterns, and fly paper lanterns. There are also local performances in the street and lanes, such as walking on stilts, lion dance, dragon dance. On that day, people will eat Yuanxiao, also called Tangyuan, which is sweet round dumplings made of glutinous rice flour with different fillings stuffed. Consumption of Yuanxiao has become an essential part of the festival, thus the festival is also called Yuanxiao Festival in Chinese.

Chinese Name: 清明节 Qīng Míng Jié
Date: 15th day from the Spring Equinox (4, 5, or 6 April)

The Qingming Festival is set aside to remember ancestors by traditionally visiting and sweeping ancestral tombs. This tradition has been observed by Chinese people for over 2,500 years. Since 2008, it has become a public holiday in mainland China. For thousands of years, families who have lost someone dear to them go to the tombs to “spend time” with their loved one by sweeping the tombs, offering food, tea, or alcohol, burning incense, burning spirit money and paper replicas of material goods, etc, to commemorate and show respect to the lives of the departed. They may also stick willow branches on the tomb. With cremation surpassing traditional burial now, the ritual has been extremely simplified in modern urban cities, with only flowers presented to show respect and express good prayers for the deceased.

Apart from the main custom - tomb sweeping, the festival is a time of various activities, including flying kites, putting willow branches on gates or front doors, etc. As the festival also marks the beginning of the season with the weather warming up, most Chinese people equate the festival to going out and enjoying the spring blossoms and the first "three-day weekend" of spring. Therefore, it is also called Taqing Festival, which means a festival for a spring outing. The festival is linked with the consumption of Qingtuan which is a green dumpling made of glutinous rice flour and Chinese mugwort or barley grass.

Chinese Name: 端午节 Duān Wǔ Jié
Date: 5th day of the 5th lunar month

The Dragon Boat Festival, with a history of over 2,500 years, is one of the four grandest traditional festivals in China. The other three are the Spring Festival, Qingming Festival, and the Mid-Autumn Festival. The festival is originally observed by people in southern central China for dragon worship, blessings praying, and warding off evil spirits. Legend has it that the festival was created to remember the death of Qu Yuan (340-278 BC), who was disappointed in the Chu monarch and suicided by drowning himself in the Miluo River. The local people immediately rowed a boat to save Qu Yuan or at least bring his body back. This is said to be the derivation of dragon boat racing. When his body could not be retrieved, they threw balls of glutinous rice into the river to save his body from fishes’ mouths. This is said to be the beginning of zongzi, a pyramid-shaped glutinous rice dumpling wrapped in bamboo/reed leaves with various fillings.

Except for dragon boat racing and eating zongzi, other widespread activities conducted during the festival include drinking realgar wine, hanging calamus and wormwood, wearing perfume pouches, and bathing in herbal water, etc. Because the festival falls close to the Summer Solstice, when poisonous animals, pests, and germs are getting more active. People deem that doing things as mentioned before can get rid of evil spirits and disease.

Chinese Name: 七夕节 Qī Xī Jié; 乞巧节 Qǐ Qiǎo Jié
Date: 7th day of the 7th lunar month

The Qixi Festival, also known as China Valentine’s Day, has its origin in the romantic love story about Zhinü and Niulang. Zhinü is the weaver girl who represents Vega and Niulang is the cowherd who represents Altair. Zhinü’s mother didn’t accept their love and created the Silver River (symbolizing the Milky Way) to separate them to opposite sides of the River. Once a year, on the 7th day of the 7th lunar month, when a flock of magpies forms a bridge, the lovers are able to reunite for one day. Thus this reunion day was treasured as a special day - the Qixi Festival which is celebrated since the Han dynasty (202 BC–220 AD).

Although western Valentine's Day is prevalent in China for a long time, the Qixi Festival, the Chinese own Valentine’s Day, is attached more and more importance. At present, Chinese lovers and couples usually go out for dinner and exchange gifts to celebrate this day of romance. In the past few years, there has been an increasing number of lovers choosing to register their marriage or hold a wedding in Chinese-style on that romantic day. Zhinü is considered as a girl with skillful hands, also an example of a good wife. So there are also some activities to pray for ingenuity and happy marriage on that day in some regions, and some young girls like to be dressed in traditional Chinese costumes.

Chinese Name: 中秋节 Zhōng Qiū Jié
Date: 15th day of the 8th lunar month

The Mid-Autumn Festival is the second grandest traditional festival in China after the Spring Festival. It is named so because it was time to enjoy the harvest in the middle of Autumn. Meanwhile, it is also known as the Moon Festival, as the moon is believed to be at its roundest and brightest on that day. Since the Tang Dynasty (618–907 CE), the festival was celebrated to worship and appreciate the full moon. In Chinese culture, the full moon with a round shape symbolizes reunion, completeness, and perfectness. As a consequence, this is the primary reason why the festival is treated importantly. Presently, it is still an occasion for family reunions or friends coming together to appreciate the full moon and eat mooncakes. Mooncakes are traditional round pastries stuffed with sweet-bean, lotus-seed paste, egg yolk, meat, or fruit paste. The sharing and consumption of round mooncakes in family members on that day indicates the harmony and unity of the family.

Appreciating the full moon and eating mooncakes are the must-done traditions during the festival. At the same time, the festival is celebrated with many cultural or regional customs, such as drinking Osmanthus wine, watching the performance of dragon and lion dances which is usually practiced in southern China, enjoying the lantern display, making offerings to the well-known lunar deity, Chang'e who is associated with the beautiful myth “Chang’e flying to the moon”.

Chinese Name: 重阳节 Chóng Yáng Jié
Date: 9th day of the 9th lunar month

According to the “I Ching”, nine is a number of Yang which means masculine as opposed to Yin which means feminine. The festival which falls on the 9th of the 9th lunar month is the day with double Yang numbers and is thus regarded as a very auspicious date. In Chinese, “Chong” means double, hence, the festival is also called "Chongyang Festival. Although the Double Ninth Festival originated as a day to get rid of the devil and the disease, over time it became a day to care for and respect the elderly. Because nine is pronounced ‘jiu’ in Chinese with the same pronunciation as “long”, and Chinese people endow the word ‘jiu’ with the meaning of longevity. On the day, family members take it as an opportunity to accompany their elders to go hiking and appreciate chrysanthemum or just relax in a natural environment while wishing health and longevity upon them.

It is a tradition to climb mountains, eat Chongyang cake, admire blooming chrysanthemum, drink chrysanthemum liquor, and wear the Zhuyu (a kind of plant in China like dogwood). Climbing mountains is believed to be a way to prevent diseases. Chongyang cake is a traditional steamed cake made of rice flour and sugar. As cake in Chinese is pronounced 'Gao' which means high, people believe they can make progress after eating the cake. Both chrysanthemum and Zhuyu are considered to be the best houseplants with the potential to filter airborne pollutants and cure illnesses.

Chinese Name: 冬至 Dōng Zhì
Date: Winter Solstice (21, 22, or 23 December)

Winter solstice is an astronomical phenomenon of the shortest daytime or longest night of the year, which occurs when one hemisphere has its maximum tilt away from the sun. It is a time observed and celebrated around the world. In China, the Winter Solstice Festival originated from the Yin and Yang ideology of balance and harmony in ancient Chinese philosophy. Thus, the festival was also marked as a turning point for the coming of the light and warmth of Yang. In Mandarin, the winter solstice is called Dongzhi which means the arrival of winter. As one of the most important festivals in China, the Winter Solstice Festival is a time for family getting together and celebrating with dishes symbolizing harmony.

Traditional dishes are different in varied regions. In northern China, people usually eat dumplings at the Winter Solstice Festival. As the dumplings are shaped like ears, they believe their ears won’t be frostbitten after eating dumplings. In southern China, eating Tangyuan is particularly popular during these get-togethers. Tangyuan is a dessert made of glutinous rice flour, which means reunion. As China is getting colder and colder after the winter solstice, there is another traditional custom of eating lamb or drinking mutton soup to dispel cold, since lamb or mutton is considered heaty in traditional Chinese medicine.

Every year, there are seven formal public holidays in China. These holidays have an obvious feature, which is shifting weekends and the weekdays next to the actual holiday to accommodate a longer holiday period.

New Year’s Day

Chinese people celebrate New Year's Day just as many other countries do, though they do have another custom to celebrate their own lunar new year. Even New Year's Day is a popular holiday, some people may still have to work, and many more will have 3 days off and return to work on January 4. Schools, banks, and government institutions are usually closed.

The Spring Festival (Chinese New Year)

Chinese New Year is observed as a public holiday from the eve of Chinese New Year - 30th day of 12th lunar month to the 6th day of 1st lunar month. As Chinese New Year is regarded as an occasion for family reunions, people who are out of home for work start to go back to their hometown about 2 weeks before the festival and travel back to the city where they work within 2 weeks after the festival.

Tips: For travelers who are planning to tour China during the festival, we would advise making your booking well in advance. Because, the flight/train ticket will be in high demand, and transportation can be crowded during the period before or after the festival. Besides, the airfares and hotel rate are always higher than usual, and some restaurants and shops may close business during the festival to spend time with their families.

The Tomb-Sweeping Day (The Qingming Festival)

On every 15th day from the Spring Equinox, it is typical for governmental offices, banks, and schools, etc. to close one day for a traditional ritual to remember ancestors. In order to enjoy the extended good weather brought by the Spring, the day is usually connected with weekends for a 3-day holiday.

Labor Day (May Day)

Labour Day is celebrated on 1 May internationally. In China, now it is extended to a holiday of five subsequent days (1-5 May) as a step to encourage travel and increase holiday spending. Most Chinese people would also love to take this opportunity to go out for a long holiday.

Tips: The extended holiday period has become a peak time for tourism with domestic visitors flocking into popular sites. Flight/train tickets and hotel rooms are definitely in great demand with higher prices. For travelers with flexible time, we would advise avoiding this period to travel to China.

The Dragon Boat Festival

A massive three-day party takes place throughout China around the 5th day of the 5th lunar month, when spectators gather alongside the rivers to inspire the athletes as they race their dragon boats toward the finish line.

The Mid-Autumn Festival

People in China will have one day off on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month which is frequently joined with the weekend to be a 3-day holiday. If it falls amid October 1st - 7th, the holiday will be celebrated with the National Day together as an 8-day holiday.

National Day (Golden Week)

On this day, Chinese people commemorate the founding of the People’s Republic of China. Even though it is celebrated on 1 October annually, there are another 6 days added to make an official holiday of seven continuous days. Celebrations and festivities are usually held throughout the whole nation on this day. A grand military parade and celebration are held at the Tiananmen Square in Beijing in select years, such as 2019 which is the 70th anniversary of the People's Republic of China. The holiday is also known as Golden Week, as it is a golden time allowing people to make long-distance family visits or travel with the most comfortable weather. Thus the Golden Week is a period of an overwhelming tourist crowd.

Tips: If possible, we would advise travelers to avoid traveling to China during the Golden Week. For travelers who can not change their plan, please be prepared to encounter a sea of people at each attraction, and pay more for the flight/train/hotel than usual. Lastly, please book flight/train tickets, hotel rooms, and any activities a long way in advance!