List of observances set by the Chinese calendar

Last updated

The traditional Chinese holidays are an essential part of harvests or prayer offerings. The most important Chinese holiday is the Chinese New Year (Spring Festival), which is also celebrated in overseas ethnic Chinese communities (for example in Malaysia, Thailand, or the USA). [1] [2] Traditional holidays are varied from region to region but most are scheduled according to the Chinese calendar; exceptions, like the Qingming and winter solstice days, fall on the respective jieqi (solar terms) in the agricultural calendar.

Contents

Chinese lunar dateGregorian dateEnglish nameChinese nameRemarks
MonthDay
1 (正月)1st29 January 2025 Chinese New Year (Spring Festival) 農曆新年 / 农历新年
 春節 / 春节
 大年初一
Set off fireworks after midnight; visit family members
1 (正月)7th4 February 2025 Renri 人日
1 (正月)15th12 February 2025 Lantern Festival  元宵節 / 元宵节Lantern parade and lion dance celebrating the first full moon. Eating tangyuan. This day is also the last day of new year celebration. This is Tourism Day in Taiwan
2 (二月)2nd1 March 2025 Zhonghe Festival (Blue Dragon Festival) 中和節 / 中和节
 青龍節 / 青龙节
Eat Chinese pancakes (Chun bing, 春餅) and noodles, clean the house. Also known as Dragon Raising its Head This is Earth God's Birthday in Taiwan
3 (三月)3rd31 March 2025 Shangsi Festival 上巳節 / 上巳节Traditional Chinese Women's Day, also known as 婦女節 / 妇女节 (fùnǚjié) or Double Third Festival.
Sam Nyied Sam 三月三Celebrated by the Zhuang people, an ethnic minority.
At the Qingming solar term, solar longitude of 15°, 104th day after Dongzhi (winter solstice)April 4, 2020 Qingming Festival (Tomb Sweeping Festival, Tomb Sweeping Day, Clear and Bright Festival)清明節 / 清明节Visit, clean, and make offerings at ancestral gravesites, spring outing
105th day after DongzhiApril 5, 2020 Cold Food Festival
3 (三月)15th12 April 2025 [3] God of Medicine's Birthday保生大帝誕辰 Public holiday in Taiwan
3 (三月)23rd20 April 2025 [4] Matsu's Birthday媽祖誕辰 Public holiday in Taiwan
4 (四月)8th5 May 2025 Buddha's Birthday 佛誕 / 佛诞Visit Buddhist temple, offer food to the monks
4 (四月)8th5 May 2025 – 9 May 2025 Cheung Chau Bun Festival 包山節/長洲太平清醮
5 (五月)5th31 May 2025 Duanwu Festival (Dragon Boat Festival)端午節 / 端午节Dragon boat race, eat sticky rice wrapped in lotus leaves Zongzi (粽子). This festival commemorates the ancient poet Qu Yuan; drink yellow rice wine, related to the White Snake Lady legend
5 (五月)13th8 June 2025 [5] Kuan Kung's Birthday and Cheng Huang's Birthday關公誕辰Celebrated in Taiwan
6 (六月)6th30 June 2025 Double Sixth Festival 六月六 / 天贶节
6 (六月)24th or 25th18 July 2025 – 20 July 2025 Torch Festival 火把节
7 (七月)7th29 August 2025 Qixi Festival (The Night of Sevens, Magpie Festival, Chinese Valentine's Day)七夕According to legend, the goddess "Zhi Nü" (the star Vega) fell in love with the farmer boy "Niu Lang" (the star Altair), but was disapproved by her mother goddess. As punishment, they were separated by the Milky Way and could only meet once a year on this night.
7 (七月)15th night (14th in parts of southern China)6 September 2025 Ghost Festival 中元節 / 中元节Burn fake paper money and make offerings to ancestors and the dead to comfort them in the afterlife and keep them from troubling the living.
8 (八月)15th6 October 2025 Mid-Autumn Festival (Moon Festival)中秋節 / 中秋节Eat mooncake, family union meal, related to the legend of Chang E, the Jade Rabbit and The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, also called "Chinese Thanksgiving".
8 (八月)16th7 October 2025 [6] Monkey King Festival 齊天大聖千秋
8 (八月)26th17 October 2025Food Extermination Day绝粮日Commemorate when Nurhaci's troops ran out of food, Northeast China specific
Eve of the 9th month (九月); goes on for nine days21 October 2025 – 29 October 2025 Nine Emperor Gods Festival
9 (九月)9th29 October 2025 Double Ninth Festival (Chongyang Festival)重陽節 / 重阳节Autumn outing and mountain climbing, some Chinese also visit the graves of their ancestors to pay their respects.
10 (十月)15th4 December 2025 [7] Saisiat Festival 賽夏節Pas-taai Festival of the Saisiat tribe in Taiwan
At the Dongzhi solar term, solar longitude of 270°, the day of winter solstice 21 December 2025 Dongzhi Festival (Winter Solstice Festival)冬至Have Tangyuan and Jiuniang and perform ancestor worship, Feast day, family gatherings, also named "Chinese Thanksgiving"
12 (臘月)8th26 January 2026 Laba Festival 臘八節 / 腊八节This is the day the Buddha attained enlightenment. People usually eat Laba congee, which is made of mixed grains and fruits. Beginning of the preparation for Chinese new year.
Last day of lunar year16 February 2026 Chinese New Year's Eve  除夕
 大年夜

Public holidays

Traditional holidays are generally celebrated in Chinese-speaking regions. For the most part however, only Chinese New Year, Qingming Festival, the Dragon Boat Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival are statutory public holidays. This is the case in both mainland China and Taiwan whilst Hong Kong and Macau also observe Buddha's Birthday and Chung Yeung Festival. In Singapore, Chinese New Year is the only traditional Chinese public holiday, likewise with Malaysia.

Each region has its own holidays on top of this condensed traditional Chinese set. Mainland China and Taiwan observe patriotic holidays, Hong Kong and Macau observe Christian holidays, and Malaysia and Singapore celebrate Malay and Indian festivals.

See also

References

  1. Hui, Vikki (January 31, 2022). "Lunar New Year is celebrated across Asian communities, but each has their own traditions". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved July 24, 2022.
  2. "Lunar New Year 2022: What does the holiday and the Year of the Tiger represent?". USA TODAY. Retrieved July 24, 2022. The United States is also home to some celebrations. Overall, over about 1.5 billion people across the world will take part in the festivities.
  3. "God of Medicine's Birthday in Taiwan".
  4. "Matsu's Birthday in Taiwan".
  5. "Kuan Kung's Birthday in Taiwan".
  6. "Hong Kong Holidays and Festivals - 2020".
  7. "Saisiat Festival in Taiwan".