Festivals in China
An essential part of Chinese Culture, Chinese festivals have traditions which date back thousands of years. Originally created to celebrate the seasons and harvests, they have evolved to include mythology and folk tales. Every Chinese holiday is based off the traditional Chinese lunar calendar, so their dates vary every year. They are an incredible part of Chinese life and a great look into the pageantry of China’s culture and history.
Spring Festival
The most important holiday of the Chinese people, Spring Festival begins on the first day of the first lunar month and continues for fifteen days. On each day of the festival, different traditions are followed and each one is looked forward to for the whole year. This festival is particularly popular with children, who get presents in the form of Hong Bao, which are red envelopes filled with money. The entire country decorates itself for the festival and every home, whether it be in a village, or in the city, is decorated and cleaned for the holiday. The entire country takes on a look and the suspense is almost palatable. It is a wonderful time to visit China and partake in the festivities.
Spring Festival Decorations & Lantern Festival
The fifteenth and final day of the Spring Festival, Lantern Festival is known for its many wonderful lanterns. Most cities in China have huge lantern displays and traditionally every family make their own lanterns to decorate their house with. Lanterns are only part of the festival. Dragon and Lion dances are performed and many fireworks are lit off.
Zhonghe Festival
Celebrated on the second day of the second lunar month, Zhonghe Festival, also known as Blue Dragon Festival is a fairly small holiday and not as widely celebrated as Spring Festival. On this day people eat Chun Bing, a form of Chinese pancake. They also eat noodles and clean their homes.
Dragon Boat Festival:
Shangsi Festival, otherwise known as Women’s Day Festival, is a day dedicated to women. In China, women usually receive flowers from their family, coworkers, and students. They usually have half a day off from work and sometimes receive bonuses from their bosses.
Tomb Sweeping Day
Each year, Qingming Jie, or Tomb Sweeping Day is celebrated on the twenty-first day of the second lunary month. The festival has two main parts. One part is for the entire family to outside and enjoy spring. They will go to a park, or the countryside to enjoy the budding trees and flowers. The second part involves visiting the tombs of their ancestors. The tombs will be cleaned and tended. While at the tombs, they will offer alcohol and cigarettes to their ancestors and fireworks and incense will be lit.
Popular in not only China, but around the world, Dragon Boat Festival is famous for its dragon boat races, but in China there is much more to the holiday. According to tradition, the festival commemorates the death of Qu Yuan, a Zhou Dynasty poet and government official. He was wrongfully accused of treason and committed suicide by jumping into a river. The local people loved and admired him and threw rice into the river to feed the fish so that they would not eat his body. They also rushed out into the river in boats to try to recover his body. So today people eat Zhongzi, a sticky rice dumpling wrapped in lotus leaves and hold dragon boat races.
Magpie Festival
On the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, the Magpie Festival is celebrated in China. It is commonly referred to as Chinese Valentine’s Day. According to tradition, there was once a young cowherd who on his way home came across seven star fairies bathing in a lake. He snuck to the bank and stole their clothing. The fairies chose the youngest among them, the star Vega, to retrieve their clothing from the cowherd. When he saw her, the young cowherd fell in love and asked for her hand in marriage, and she agreed. They were incredibly happy and had two children together. The goddess of heaven discovered that a fairy had married a mortal and was furious. She had one of her generals forcefully return her to heaven. The young cowherd was incredibly upset. His ox, upon seeing his plight decided to offer his life to the cowherd. He told him that if he put on his skin, that he could go to heaven. The goddess discovered this and created a wide river in the sky to separate the two lovers forever. This river is the Milky Way. The magpies took pity on the two lovers and flew to form a bridge across the Milky Way once a year so the two lovers can be reunited for one night a day. This happens on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month.
Zhongyuan Ghost Festival
Celebrated on the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month, Ghost Festival is a day to make offering to ancestors. It is traditionally believed that on this day, ghosts can return to earth. On this day, the Chinese people burn incense and paper objects to appease the spirits. The paper objects that are burned come in the form of money, houses, cars, cell phones, alcohol, etc. They are burned in the belief that the smoke from the objects can be reformed in heaven into their representative objects and be used by the deceased and therefore they will not both the living.
Mid-Autumn Festival
Held on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month, Mid-Autumn Festival is a festival for families. On this day, people eat moon cakes, a small cake filled with meat, vegetables, or fruit. In the evening, families will go outside to enjoy the full moon together.
Double Ninth Festival
On the ninth day of the ninth lunar month, many Chinese families will spend the day outside, enjoying the autumn weather. Many families enjoy climbing mountains to enjoy the view. In some parts of China, families visit the tombs of their ancestors to pay their respects.
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