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.
| Chinese lunar date | Gregorian date | English name | Chinese name | Remarks | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Day | ||||
| 1 (正月) | 1st | 29 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) | 7th | 4 February 2025 | Renri | 人日 | |
| 1 (正月) | 15th | 12 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) | 2nd | 1 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) | 3rd | 31 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 Dongzhi | April 5, 2020 | Cold Food Festival | |||
| 3 (三月) | 15th | 12 April 2025 [3] | God of Medicine's Birthday | 保生大帝誕辰 | Public holiday in Taiwan |
| 3 (三月) | 23rd | 20 April 2025 [4] | Matsu's Birthday | 媽祖誕辰 | Public holiday in Taiwan |
| 4 (四月) | 8th | 5 May 2025 | Buddha's Birthday | 佛誕 / 佛诞 | Visit Buddhist temple, offer food to the monks |
| 4 (四月) | 8th | 5 May 2025 – 9 May 2025 | Cheung Chau Bun Festival | 包山節/長洲太平清醮 | |
| 5 (五月) | 5th | 31 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) | 13th | 8 June 2025 [5] | Kuan Kung's Birthday and Cheng Huang's Birthday | 關公誕辰 | Celebrated in Taiwan |
| 6 (六月) | 6th | 30 June 2025 | Double Sixth Festival | 六月六 / 天贶节 | |
| 6 (六月) | 24th or 25th | 18 July 2025 – 20 July 2025 | Torch Festival | 火把节 | |
| 7 (七月) | 7th | 29 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) | 15th | 6 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) | 16th | 7 October 2025 [6] | Monkey King Festival | 齊天大聖千秋 | |
| 8 (八月) | 26th | 17 October 2025 | Food 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 days | 21 October 2025 – 29 October 2025 | Nine Emperor Gods Festival | |||
| 9 (九月) | 9th | 29 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) | 15th | 4 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) | 8th | 26 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 year | 16 February 2026 | 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.
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.
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Sometimes if Mid-Autumn Festival is near National Day, Mid-Autumn Festival may be in the golden week. | ||
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