Spring Festival
Date: Lunar January 1st
The most important traditional Chinese festival marking the beginning of the Lunar New Year, featuring customs like粘贴春联 (pasting couplets), setting off firecrackers, family reunions for New Year's Eve dinner, and visiting relatives.
Lantern Festival
Date: Lunar January 15th
The first major festival after Spring Festival, celebrated with lantern displays, solving riddles written on lanterns, and eating sweet rice dumplings (tangyuan), also known as Shangyuan Festival.
Dragon Head Raising Day
Date: Lunar February 2nd
Traditionally believed to be the day when dragons awaken from hibernation, people get haircuts, worship the kitchen god, and pray for good weather and harvests.
Shangsi Festival
Date: Lunar March 3rd
Ancient festival for purification rituals, modern celebrations include spring outings and kite flying in some regions.
Qingming Festival
Date: April 4-6th (Gregorian calendar)
Traditional festival for honoring ancestors through tomb sweeping, while also being a popular time for spring outings to enjoy nature's beauty.
Dragon Boat Festival
Date: Lunar May 5th
Celebrated in memory of poet Qu Yuan, featuring dragon boat races, eating zongzi (glutinous rice dumplings), and hanging mugwort, one of China's four major traditional festivals.
Qixi Festival
Date: Lunar July 7th
China's traditional Valentine's Day based on the legend of Cowherd and Weaver Girl, also known as the Begging Festival for girls to pray for needlework skills.
Hungry Ghost Festival
Date: Lunar July 15th
Also known as Zhongyuan Festival, a traditional festival for honoring ancestors with rituals including offering sacrifices, releasing river lanterns, and paying respects to departed spirits, one of the three major ghost festivals along with Qingming and Cold Clothes Festival.
Mid-Autumn Festival
Date: Lunar August 15th
A harvest festival celebrating family reunions with moon gazing, eating mooncakes, and enjoying Osmanthus wine, one of China's four major traditional festivals symbolizing unity and prosperity.
Double Ninth Festival
Date: Lunar September 9th
Celebrated with mountain climbing, admiring chrysanthemums, wearing dogwood, and honoring the elderly as a special respect for seniors day.
Cold Clothes Festival
Date: Lunar October 1st
Traditional festival for paying respects to ancestors by burning paper clothes as offerings to keep them warm in the afterlife, with customs including tomb sweeping and making winter clothing preparations.
Winter Solstice
Date: December 21-23rd (Gregorian calendar)
One of the 24 solar terms with the saying "Winter Solstice is as important as the New Year", celebrated with eating dumplings in northern China and tangyuan in southern China.
Laba Festival
Date: Lunar December 8th
Traditional festival featuring the consumption of Laba congee, a nutritious porridge made with various grains, beans, and dried fruits symbolizing harvest and good fortune.
Little New Year
Date: Lunar December 23rd or 24th
The day for honoring the Kitchen God with offerings of sticky candy to ensure he reports favorably to heaven, marking the official start of Lunar New Year preparations.
Chinese New Year's Eve
Date: Lunar December 30th
The final day of the lunar year, celebrated with family reunions for the New Year's Eve dinner, staying up late (shousui), putting up spring couplets, and setting off firecrackers to welcome the new year.