Survey of Chinese Holidays & Festivals

1. Official Chinese Holidays

New Year's Day (January 1)

Not as much celebrated as it is in other parts of the world because it is overshadowed by the upcoming Chinese New Year (Lunar Festival) somewhere a month away. However, employees will enjoy a paid day-off. And there will be parties everywhere, in parks, dancing halls and universities where students will leave for the winter vacation and won't be able to celebrate the Chinese New Year on campus.

International Women's Day (March 8)

Interestingly, women employees will get a whole or a half paid day-off on the day while the men are at the mercy of their employers.

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

Highly promoted since the late 70's by the reformist government and yet to become established. It marks the begriming of a greening campaign all over the country during the month each year. There is no paid leave on this day.

International Labor Day (May 1)

No less celebrated than the 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 on this day have become history.

Youth Day (May 4)

A day in memory of the first mass student movement in 1919—a movement 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 1)

It is the most memorable day of Chinese children. Access to almost all entertainment and educational facilities such as cinemas, parks and children's museums is free to them. Elementary schools throw celebration parties while parents shower them with presents.

The CCP's Birthday (July 1)

It marked the founding of the Chinese Communist Party in 1921 in Shanghai. It is usually characterized by front page editorials from major government news pagers. Employees do not have a paid leave day.

Army's Day (August 1)

A communist-led nationalist army staged the first armed uprising in Chinese communist history against the Nationalists on August 1, 1927. It was regarded as the beginning of the Red Army (later the People's Liberation Army). Now the anniversary is often used to promote better relationships between the army and civilians, a tradition believed to have helped it beat the Nationalists during the civil war in 1949. It is not a paid-leave day.

Teacher's Day (September 10)

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 is yet to become a paid-leave day for the teachers.

National Day (October 1)

It is the anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949 in the wake of routing the Nationalists who have since taken refuge in Taiwan. Celebrations of the day went through different phases in history. Before 1960s, there were regular parades during the day and firework shows during the night in major cities. Later, the celebration was reduced to mere organized parties in parks. Beginning from the 1980's two grand parade happened in Beijing, each in 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 to pump more money into the country's economic development. Both May 1 and October 1 weeks were called huangjinzhou, or "a week of gold." Fireworks and parties are integral part of the first day of the week of gold.

2. Chinese Traditional Festivals

Note: The calendar the Chinese traditional holidays follow is of a unique lunar-solar system. Therefore, 1st of the 1st month referred here does not necessarily mean January 1. Come here to see the details of the Chinese calendar.

Spring Festival, or Chinese New Year (1st day of the 1st lunar month)

The biggest and most celebrated festival in China and parts of East and South East Asia. It is as important to the Chinese as Christmas is to Westerners. New Year's Eve dinner is the most important event when the whole family is present. Special foods are served and more meat than the usual is prepared. Fireworks will break the night, scaring the demons and bad luck away. Pictures of the Door Gods will be posted on the outside door with couples limned in bright red. Folk art poster, paper cutting and lucky wordings on bright red paper will be posted on the wall and windows. 

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

This day features lantern displays, lion and dragon dances, and eating yuanxiao (ball-shaped sweet rice dumplings with delicious stuffing.). The Lantern Festival also marks the end of the Chinese New Year season.

Qing Ming (Pure & Bright in Chinese) (5th of the 24 Solar Terms)

Originally it was a celebration of spring. People used to customarily go out on an excursion to "tread grass". Later it became day dedicated to the dear departed. Tidying up ancestors' tombs is its major big event.

Duan Wu (Dragon Boat) Festival (5th day of the 5th lunar month)

Said to be in memory of a great patriot poet of the then State of Chu during the Warring States period (475-221 B.C.), Qu Yuan (Ch'u Yuan), who drowned himself to protest his emperor who gave in to the bully State of Chin. For fear that fish may consume his body, people of Chu threw launched their boats and started throwing rice dumplings wrapped in bamboo leaves into the river where he was drowned to feed the fish. Now the big event of dragon boat contest may be a legacy of such activity. People today still eat the bamboo-leave rice dumplings on the occasion today.

The Seventh Eve (7th day of the 7th lunar month)

It is a traditional holiday almost lost to the younger generations today. It originates from a beautiful legend about a cowboy and a fairy who were cruelly separated and reunited once each year on this happy sad occasion. A more detailed story is forthcoming.

Mid-Autumn Festival (15th day of the 8th lunar month)

It is second only to the Chinese New Year in significance. The moon on this day is the fullest and largest to the eye. Viewing it by the whole family while feasting on good wine, fruits and moon-cakes features the night event. There is also a beautiful story behind it. Children are told that there's fairy on the moon living in a spacious but cold crystal palace with her sole companion, a jade rabbit. A heavenly general and friend would occasionally pay her a visit, bringing along his fragrant wine. She would then dance a beautiful dance. The shadows on the moon made the story all the more credible and fascinating to the young imaginative minds.

Chongyang Festival / Elders' Day (9th day of the 9th lunar month)

According to the famous Chinese classic Yi Jing (I Ching), six and nine are both yang, or positive, numbers. Therefore, the nineth day of the nineth lunar month is a day to be celebrated as a Double Yang Festival. It is marked by family outing, particularly going up to the top of a hill. Viewing and admiring juhua (chrysanthemum flowers), decorating houses with zhuyu (cornus officinalis plants), eating double-yang cakes, and drinking chrysanthemum wine are part and parcle of the festival. In 1989, the Chinese government made the festival the Elders' Day to encourage young people to respect their parents.

Laba Jie (8th day of the 12th lunar month)

Most Chinese treat it as a reminder of the approaching Chinese New Year, hardly aware of its Buddhist background. This day is to celebrate Sakyamuni, founder of Buddhism. As he achieved revelation by practicing asceticism, surviving merely on a meal of congee a day, eating a particular type of congee called labazhou is the most important event of this festival.

Jizao Festival or Kitchen God Festival (23rd day of the 12th lunar month)

China has a long history of worshipping fire. After zao (kitchen stove) was invented, the belief in Zao Wangye (Kitchen God) began. Kitchen God is supposed to watch the household where he resides and reports its deeds or misdeeds to Yuhuangdadi (Jade Emperor of Heaven) on the day of the Jizao Festival, a week before the eve of the Chinese New Year. Around the Jizao Festival, people would try to bribe Kitchen God with maltose candy so that, with his sweetened mouth, he would put in a good word for them before Jade Emperor.

Dongzhi Festival or Winter Solstice Festival (22nd of the 24 Solar Terms)

This festival originated from the Han dynasty (206 B.C.—A.D. 220). It used to be treated as more important than the Chinese New Year. Today its importance has greatly decreased, and it is celebrated only in parts of the country. The day is celebrated with the eating of huntun (soup dumplings) in North China and mituan (rice-ball dumplings) in the south. The festival is also marked by the worshiping of heaven and ancestors.

3. Western Holidays Celebrated in China

China has become more commercialized and less ideological, and the Chinese are enjoying more relaxed social control. As a result, they have adopted some Western holidays. While Chinese, mostly young people, celebrate them for fun, businessmen see a great opportunity to make money.

Valentine's Day

It has become as big a holiday among the young Chinese as it does in the rest of the world. Greeting cards and flowers, predominantly roses, are sold in the millions. The Chinese, however, limit the present giving to their spouses, lovers, and sex partners while in the West, candies can be given to friends and colleagues. This difference may be attributed to the mis-translation of Valentine's Day as qingrenjie, in which, qingren means lovers. There are cries for replacing this foreign celebration of love with the traditional Chinese Qixi (Seventh Day of the Seventh Lunar Month), a day that commemorizes the legendary Cowherd and Weaving Girl.

Mother's Day

This is the only Western holiday that has official support. The Chinese government's women organization Fulian, or Women's Alliance of the People's Republic of China, uses the day to promote filial respect for parents countrywide. The flower carnation is the best choice for a present to parents. The holiday is particularly popular among schoolchildren, college students, young and middle-aged white-collar workers.

Christmas

The Chinese, particularly the young generation, embrace Christmas without paying attention to its religious background. They decorate their homes with Christmas trees and lights, giving their children Christmas gifts, and go to parties to enjoy a carnival-like night. Christmas atmosphere is only too evident in the busy streets of major cities where shops, restaurants, and hotels show their best to allure customers. Santas, mostly played by young women, are their best "tools" of promotion.