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Events

An insight to some of the many events and festivals occuring in China!

Major Chinese Festivals

This list of major Chinese festivals can hopefully help you gain a better understanding
of the Chinese people and their unique customs.

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Qing Ming Jie

Qing Ming Jie (Chinese: 清明节; pinyin: Qingmíng jié), literally Pure Brightness Festival, is a traditional Chinese festival/holiday on the 106th day after the winter solstice, occurring on April 4 or April 5 of the Gregorian calendar (see Chinese calendar). It marks the middle of spring and above all, a sacred day of the dead.

The holiday is also known by a number of other names in the English language:

All Souls Day (not to be confused with the Roman Catholic holiday, All Souls Day, of the same name)
Clear Brightness Festival
Festival for Tending Graves
Grave Sweeping Day

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Mid-Autumn Festival

The Mid-Autumn Festival (simplified Chinese: 中秋节; traditional Chinese: 中秋節; pinyin: zhong1 qiu1 jie2), Moon Festival, or, less commonly, Mooncake Festival (月餅節; pinyin: yue4 bing3 jie2) is a traditional Chinese festival/holiday on the 15th day of the 8th month of the Chinese lunar calendar (usually around mid- or late-September in Gregorian Calendar). On this day the full moon is at its roundest and brightest, which symbolises family unity and togetherness. According to Chinese traditions, on this day family members and friends will gather to visit scenic spots, gaze at the moon, and eat mooncakes and pomeloes together. Farmers furthermore celebrate the end of the agricultural season and the harvest on this date. A very important holiday in the Chinese calendar, the Mid-Autumn Festival is a legal holiday in several countries.

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Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year (农历新年; 農曆新年; pinyin: Nónglì xīnnián), also known as the Lunar New Year or the Spring Festival, is celebrated on the first day of the first month of the Chinese calendar, which is usually the day on which the second new moon after the winter solstice occurs. Celebrated internationally, Chinese New Year is the most important holiday of the Chinese people and much of East Asia by Koreans, Vietnamese and others who also have the same new year.

Around the New Year people greet each other with:

"gong xi fa cai" (Traditional Chinese: 恭喜發財; Simplified Chinese: 恭喜发财) = "congratulations and be prosperous"
"xin nián kuài lè" (simplified Chinese: 新年快乐; traditional Chinese: 新年快樂) = "Happy New Year"
Traditionally, red packets ('hong bao') are passed out on Chinese New Year's Eve, and then Chinese New Year is celebrated with firecrackers. Dragon dances and lion dances take place in some streets and public places throughout the first few days of the Chinese New Year.

New Year's Eve and New Year's Day are celebrated as a family affair. The families get together during this holiday. The New Year's Eve dinner is very large and traditionally includes chicken. However, the New Year's Day dinner is typically vegetarian.

nian gao (New Year's Cake: it is believed that the higher the cake rises the better the year will be)
jiaozi dumplings
yu sheng, a salad of raw fish (especially popular in Singapore and Malaysia)
mandarin oranges (a symbol of wealth and good fortune)
Red dates bring the hope for prosperity
whole steamed fish (a symbol of long life and good fortune)
uncut noodles (a symbol of longevity)
baked goods with seeds (a symbol of fertility)
The New Year season lasts fifteen days. The first three days are the most important and most often celebrated with visits to friends, family as well as greetings of good luck. The seventh day traditionally is everyone's birthday, the day when everyone grows one year older. The celebrations end on the important and colourful Lantern Festival on the evening of the 15th day of the new moon.

The date is determined by the Chinese calendar, a lunisolar calendar. The same calendar is used in countries that have adopted the Confucian and Buddhism tradition and in many cultures influenced by the Chinese, notably the Koreans, the Tibetans, the Vietnamese and the pagan Bulgars. 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 lunar cycle is about 29.5 days. According to the solar calendar, the Chinese New Year falls on a different date each year.

Some Chinese New Year dates (in the Gregorian calendar) are listed below (with pinyin
romanization for the animals):


Spring Festival
 
Yunnan Yi Torch Festival


Animal Dates
Rooster - You 1993 January 23 2005 February 9
Dog - Xu 1994 February 10 2006 January 29
Pig - Hai 1995 January 31 2007 February 18
Rat - Zi 1996 February 19  
Ox - Chou 1997 February 7  
Tiger - Yin 1998 January 28  
Rabbit - Mao 1999 February 16  
Dragon - Chen 2000 February 5  
Snake - Si 2001 January 24  
Horse - Wu 2002 February 12  
Goat - Wei 2003 February 1  
Monkey - Shen 2004 January 22

Mythology

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Lantern Festival

The Lantern Festival (Traditional Chinese: 元宵節/元宵; pinyin: yuanshangjie) is a traditional Chinese festival/holiday, which is celebrated by Chinese in many countries. In the Chinese calendar (a lunar calendar), the Lantern Festival is on the fifteen day of the first month, making it the first major festival after the Chinese New Year. The Lantern Festival is also called the Little New Year since it marks the end of a series of celebrations starting from the Chinese New Year.
A Buddhist holiday during the day, the Lantern Festival is often compared to Halloween because just as children go out trick-or-treating at night in Halloween, during the Lantern Festival, children will go out at night carrying bright lanterns. In ancient times, the lanterns were fairly simple for only the emperor and noblemen had large ornate ones; in modern times, lanterns have been embellished with many complex designs. For example, lanterns are now often made in the shape of animals.

Traditionally, the date also served as a day for love and matchmaking. It was one of the few nights without a strict curfew. Young persons were chaperoned in the streets in hopes of finding love. Matchmakers acted busily in hopes of pairing a couple. Often, those with brightest lanterns were deemed lucky and hopeful.

Those who do not carry lanterns often enjoy watching informal lantern parades. Other popular activities at this festival include eating tang yuan (Traditional Chinese: 湯圓), a sweet rice dumpling soup, and guessing lantern riddles, often messages of love.

Double Tenth Day

Double Tenth Day (雙十節, pinyin: Shuang Shí Jíe) is the national day of the Republic of China (now on Taiwan) and celebrates the start of the Wuchang Uprising (October 10, 1911) which led to the collapse of the Qing dynasty. It is therefore also known in Chinese as National Celebration Day (國慶日, pinyin: Gúoqìng Rì).

The starts off with a military and public parade through the streets of Taipei and in front of the Presidential Office Building. Later in the day, the President of the Republic of China addresses the country and fireworks displays ar

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Dragon Boat Race

A more specific term for dragon boat as a sport is dragon boat race, which is a team paddling sport on water, using painted boats to which are attached decorative dragon heads and tails. The length of the race can be 500 meters and the normal crew number is 22, including 20 paddlers, 1 steerer and 1 drummer. It is a variation of rowing that originated in China.

Roles
During the dragon boat race the paddlers sit in pairs, facing forward unlike in rowing. The steerer, also called a helm or steersperson, either sits or stands at the back of the boat. A drummer sits at the front of the boat facing backwards, and helps set the pace of the paddle strokes by beating the drum. Teams can be singe-sex (typically all male) or mixed.

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Chap Goh Mei

Chap Goh Mei represents the fifteenth and final day of the Lunar New Year period as celebrated by Chinese migrant communities. The term is from the Hokkien dialect and literally means the fifteenth day of the first month.

It is the occasion of the first full moon of the New Year.

The occasion is marked by feasting and various festivites. In Taiwan it is celebrated as the Lantern Festival. In Southeast Asia it is known as the Chinese Valentine's Day, when young unmarried women gather to toss tangerines into the sea - a custom that originated in Penang, Malaysia.

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