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 Qing Ming and Winter Solstice days, fall on the respective Jie qi (solar terms) in the Agricultural calendar).
Date (Chinese Lunar Calendar) | Gregorian date | English Name | Chinese Name | Remarks |
---|---|---|---|---|
1st day of 1st Month | January 25, 2020 | 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 |
7th day of the 1st month | January 31, 2020 | Renri | •人日 | |
15th day of the 1st month | February 8, 2020 | 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 |
2nd day of the 2nd month | February 24, 2020 | 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 |
Third day of third month | March 26, 2020 | Shangsi Festival | 上巳節 / 上巳节 | Traditional Chinese Women's Day, also known as 婦女節/妇女节(fùnǚjié). |
Third day of third month | March 26, 2020 | Sam Nyied Sam | 三月三 | Celebrated by the Zhuang people, an ethnic minority. |
At the Qingming solar term, solar longitude of 15°, 104 days after 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 dongzhi | April 5 by the Gregorian calendar, except in leap years | Cold Food Festival | ||
15th day of 3rd lunar month | April 7, 2020 [3] | God of Medicine's Birthday | 保生大帝誕辰 | Public holiday in Taiwan |
23rd day of 3rd lunar month | April 15, 2020 [4] | Matsu's Birthday | 媽祖誕辰 | Public holiday in Taiwan |
Eighth day of the fourth month | April 30, 2020 | Buddha's Birthday | 佛誕 / 佛诞 | Visit Buddhist temple, offer food to the monks |
Eighth day of the fourth month | May 9–13, 2020 | Cheung Chau Bun Festival | 包山節/長洲太平清醮 | |
Fifth day of the fifth month | June 25, 2020 | 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 |
13th day of 5th lunar month | July 3, 2020 [5] | Kuan Kung's Birthday and Cheng Huang's Birthday | 關公誕辰 | Celebrated in Taiwan |
Sixth day of the sixth month | July 26, 2020 | Double Sixth Festival | 六月六 / 天贶节 | |
24th or 25th of 6th month | August 13–15, 2020 | Torch Festival | 火把节 | |
Seventh day of the 7th month | August 25, 2020 | 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. |
15th night of the seventh month (14th in parts of southern China) | September 2, 2020 | 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. |
15th day of the 8th month | October 1, 2020 | 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". |
16th day of the 8th month | October 2, 2020 [6] | Monkey King Festival | 齊天大聖千秋 | |
26th day of the 8th month | October 12, 2020 | Food Extermination Day | 绝粮日 | Commemorate when Nurhaci's troops ran out of food, Northeast China specific |
Eve of the ninth month; goes on for nine days | October 16-October 25, 2020 | Nine Emperor Gods Festival | ||
9th day of the 9th month | October 25, 2020 | 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. |
15th day of 10th lunar month | November 29, 2020 [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 (around 21-22 Dec.) | December 21, 2020 | Dongzhi Festival (Winter Solstice Festival) | 冬至 | Have Tangyuan and Jiuniang and perform ancestor worship, Feast day, family gatherings, also named "Chinese Thanksgiving" |
8th day the 12th month | January 21, 2021 | 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 year | February 11, 2021 | Chinese New Year’s Eve | •除夕 •大年夜 |
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.
Vesak, also known as Buddha Jayanti, Buddha Purnima, and Buddha Day, is a holiday traditionally observed by Buddhists in South Asia and Southeast Asia, as well as Tibet and Mongolia. It is among the most important Buddhist festivals. The festival commemorates the birth, enlightenment (Nibbāna), and death (Parinirvāna) of Gautama Buddha in Theravada, Tibetan Buddhism and Navayana.
"Mainland China", also referred to as "the Chinese mainland", is a geopolitical term defined as the territory under direct administration of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the aftermath of the Chinese Civil War. In addition to the geographical mainland, the geopolitical sense of the term includes islands such as Hainan, Chongming, and Zhoushan. By convention, territories outside of mainland China include:
The National Day of the Republic of China, also referred to as Double Ten Day or Double Tenth Day, is a public holiday on 10 October, now held annually as national day in the Republic of China. It commemorates the start of the Wuchang Uprising on 10 October 1911 which ultimately led to the collapse of the imperial Qing dynasty, ending 2,133 years of imperial rule of China since the Qin dynasty and establishment of the Republic of China on 1 January 1912. The day was once held as public holiday in mainland China during the Mainland Period of the ROC before 1949. The subsequent People's Republic of China continues to observe the Anniversary of the Xinhai Revolution at the same date but not as a public holiday, which put more emphasis on its revolutionary characteristics as commemoration of a historical event rather than celebration to the founding of the Republic of China.
The Double Ninth Festival is a traditional Chinese holiday observed on the ninth day of the ninth month in the Chinese calendar. According to Wu Jun, it dates back to the Eastern Han dynasty.
Lunar New Year is the beginning of a new year based on lunar calendars or, informally but more widely, lunisolar calendars. Lunar calendars follow the lunar phase while lunisolar calendars follow both the lunar phase and the time of the solar year. The event is celebrated by numerous cultures in various ways at diverse dates.
The Dragon Boat Festival is a traditional Chinese holiday that occurs on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese calendar, which corresponds to late May or early June in the Gregorian calendar. The holiday commemorates Qu Yuan who was the beloved prime minister of the southern Chinese state of Chu during the Warring States period, about 600 B.C. to 200 B.C., and is celebrated by holding dragon boat races and eating sticky rice dumplings called zongzi, which were southern Chinese traditions. Dragon Boat Festival integrates praying for good luck and taking respite from the summer heat.
The Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Moon Festival or Mooncake Festival, is a harvest festival celebrated in Chinese culture. It is held on the 15th day of the 8th month of the Chinese lunisolar calendar with a full moon at night, corresponding to mid-September to early October of the Gregorian calendar. On this day, the Chinese believe that the moon is at its brightest and fullest size, coinciding with harvest time in the middle of autumn.
The Qingming Festival or Ching Ming Festival, also known as Tomb-Sweeping Day in English, is a traditional Chinese festival observed by ethnic Chinese in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, Cambodia, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. A celebration of spring, it falls on the first day of the fifth solar term of the traditional Chinese lunisolar calendar. This makes it the 15th day after the Spring Equinox, either 4, 5 or 6 April in a given year. During Qingming, Chinese families visit the tombs of their ancestors to clean the gravesites and make ritual offerings to their ancestors. Offerings would typically include traditional food dishes and the burning of joss sticks and joss paper. The holiday recognizes the traditional reverence of one's ancestors in Chinese culture.
Public holidays and statutory holidays in Hong Kong are holidays designated by the Government of Hong Kong. They allow workers rest from work, usually in conjunction with special occasions. Public holidays in Hong Kong consist of a mix of traditional Chinese and Western holidays, such as Lunar New Year, the Mid-Autumn Festival, and the Dragon Boat Festival, along with Christmas and Easter. Other public holidays include National Day and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Establishment Day.
Public holidays in Malaysia are regulated at both federal and state levels, mainly based on a list of federal holidays observed nationwide plus a few additional holidays observed by each individual state and federal territory. The public holidays are a mix of secular holidays celebrating the nation and its history, and selected traditional holidays of the various ethnic and religious groups that make up the country.
The following are considered holidays in Taiwan. Some are official holidays, and some are not:
The September equinox is the moment when the Sun appears to cross the celestial equator, heading southward. Because of differences between the calendar year and the tropical year, the September equinox may occur from September 21 to 24.
Buddha's Birthday or Buddha Day is a primarily Buddhist festival that is celebrated in most of South, Southeast and East Asia, commemorating the birth of the prince Siddhartha Gautama, who became the Gautama Buddha and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition and archaeologists, Gautama Buddha, c. 563-483 BCE, was born at Lumbini in Nepal. Buddha's mother was Queen Maya Devi, who delivered the Buddha while undertaking a journey to her native home, and his father was King Śuddhodana. The Mayadevi Temple, its gardens, and an Ashoka Pillar dating from 249 BCE mark the Buddha's birth place at Lumbini.
Religion in Hong Kong is characterised by a multi-faith diversity of beliefs and practices.
The time in China follows a single standard time offset of UTC+08:00 based on the National Time Service Center of Chinese Academy of Sciences located in Mount Li, Lintong District, Xi'an City, Shaanxi Province, even though the country spans five geographical time zones. The official national standard time is called Beijing Time domestically because it is based on the 120th meridian east, where Beijing City is located, and China Standard Time (CST) internationally. Daylight saving time has not been observed since 1991. China Standard Time (UTC+8) is consistent across Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, as well as equivalent with Philippines, Singapore, Brunei, most of Mongolia, Malaysia, Irkutsk Time (Russia), Western Australia and Central Indonesia.
The Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of Chinapassport is a passport issued to Chinese citizens who are permanent residents of the Chinese Special Administrative Region of Macau.
Events and festivals in Macau.
Chinese New Year, or the Spring Festival, is a festival that celebrates the beginning of a new year on the traditional lunisolar Chinese calendar. Marking the end of winter and the beginning of spring, observances traditionally take place from Chinese New Year's Eve, the evening preceding the first day of the year, to the Lantern Festival, held on the 15th day of the year. The first day of Chinese New Year begins on the new moon that appears between 21 January and 20 February.
Confucius’ Birthday, falls on the 27th day of the eighth lunar month of the Chinese calendar. It is officially celebrated on Taiwan as "Teachers' Day" on September 28, and in Hong Kong on the third Sunday of September as "Confucius Day", though the traditional date is also often observed. Mainland China observes a "Teachers' Day" on September 10 to celebrate the efforts of today's teachers, and there is a legislative effort underway to move that to September 28.
The Birthday of the Monkey God is a cultural and religious holiday celebrated in Singapore on the 15th or 16th day of the First Lunar Month. The dates on the Western Calendar vary from year to year. It marks the birthday of Sun Wukong, the protagonist in the classical novel Journey to the West. The popular celebratory customs associated with the Birthday of the Monkey God have both secular and religious (Taoist) themes. This is not to be confused with the Monkey King Festival celebrated in China on the 16th day of the Eighth Lunar Calendar.
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.