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Chinese Festivals 2016

Festivals mark the passing of time in the course of a year. The celebrations often require time and effort to prepare and involves a large social network of friends and relatives.

Overtime, the festivals that continued to be observed and celebrated tells us many things about the people and society.

Chinese festivals follow the lunar calendar and the actual date changes every year. Below are the dates of various festivals.

You can also check previous year's dates in our festival dates page.

Chinese Fesitvals Gregorian date              Lunar date

Chinese New Year 
农历新年

8 Feb 2016

1st day of 1st lunar month

Birthday: God of Wealth 财神诞 12 Feb 2015 5th day of the 1st Lunar month

Birthday: Jade Emperor 玉皇上帝圣诞

Lantern Festival
元宵节

22 Feb 2016

15th day of 1st lunar month

Birthday:Guan Yin
观音诞
See also Enlightment and Renunciation dates

27 Mar 2016

19th day of 2nd lunar month

Qing Ming Festival
清明节

2 Apr 2016

15th day from the Spring Equinox

Birthday: God of Medicine 保生大帝圣诞
21 Apr 2016 15th day of the 3rd lunar month
Birthday: Goddess of Birth and Childcare
注生娘娘圣诞
26 Apr 2016 20th day of the 3rd lunar month
Birthday of Mazu
妈祖诞 

29 Apr 2016

23rd day of 3rd lunar month

Vesak Day     
卫塞节

14 May 2016

8th day of 4th lunar month
China, Hong Kong, Korea

Vesak Day     
卫塞节

21 May 2016 15th Day of 4th Lunar Month Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore

Dragon Boat Festival  端午节

9 Jun 2016

5th day of 5th lunar month

Birthday of Hainan 108 Brothers 1 Jul 2016 27th day of 5th lunar

Enlightenment day of Guan Yin 观音诞
See also Birthday and Renunciation dates

22 Jul 2016

19th day of 6th lunar month

Birthday: Guan Gong 关圣帝君诞

27 Jul 2016

24th day of 6th lunar month

Hungry Ghosts Festival  中元节

3 - 31 Aug 2016

7th lunar month

Birthday of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva
地藏王菩萨诞

31 Aug 2016 30th day of the 7th lunar month

Mid-Autumn Festival 中秋节

Birthday: Yue Lao
月老诞

15 Sep 2016

15th day of 8th lunar month

Birthday: Monkey God 齐天大圣千秋

16 Sep 2016

16th day of 8th lunar month

Birthday of Confucius  孔子诞

27 Sept 2016

27th day of 8th lunar month

9 Emperor Gods Festival 九皇大帝圣诞
1 - 30 Oct 2016 1st to 9th day of 9th lunar month

Renunciation day of Guan Yin 观音诞
See also Birthday and Enlightment dates

19 Oct 2016

19th day of 9th lunar month

Winter Solstice
冬至

5 Dec 2016

7th day of the 11th lunar month

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Chinese New Year 农历新年, 春节

Chinese New Year is the most important event in the Chinese cultural calendar. hinese New Year falls on the first 15 days of the first lunar month (usually Jan or Feb) 

mandarin orangePreparing for Chinese New Year
Preparing for the Chinese New Year involves months of work and planning before the big day.

mandarin orangeCelebration starts on New Year's eve
After much time and effort, the count down for New Year starts. The New Year eve is also effectively the start of Chinese New Year celebrations.

mandarin orangeNian Gao, 年糕, New year cake
A Chinese pastry used during the Chinese New Year and also as gifts to family, friends and business associates.

mandarin orangeRed Packets
Red coloured rectangle envelopes used for holding money as gifts during auspicious occasions. Read about the amounts considerd ok to put in a red packet and the amounts that are not so ok.

mandarin orangeYu Sheng, 鱼生
A special dish of raw fish salad consumed from the 7th day of Chinese New Year. This dish was inspired by Cantonese custom and invented in Singapore.

mandarin orangeFire Crackers

Fire crackers, replicas of fire crackers and images of them are almost every during the Chinese new year. We also have a clip for you to watch in case you live in an area where it is banned.

 

Dragon Boat Festival, Duan Yu Jie, 端午节

The Duan Wu Jie falls on the 5th day of the 5th lunar month, usually in June.

zong zi

Qu Yuan 屈原
Qu Yuan, the main character around which the dumpling festival revolves. Read about the historical period that Qu Yuan lived in as well as see photos of his, hometown, temple, and tomb. These structures are being submerged by the three gorges dam 三峡construction. 

zong zi

Zong Zi,  粽子 (Dumplings)
The food item that is closely associated with the Dumpling Festival.

zong zi

Dragon Boat 龙舟
The dragon boat custom that evolved from civilian’s attempt to save Qu Yuan to an international sports event.

zong zi

Dragon Boat Festival main page

Vesak Day

vesak dayVesak Day

Different Buddhist traditions celebrating Vesak.

Hungry Ghost Festival

hungry ghost flagThe Hungry Ghost Festival also known as Zhong Yuan Jie, 中元节 and Ullambana, Yulan Jie, 盂兰盆, falls on the 7th lunar month.


Mid Autumn Festival 中秋节

The Mid Autumn Festival falls on the 15th day of the 8th Lunar month, usually in Auguest or September.

mooncakeMid Autumn celebrations looks at the customs leading to the day itself as well as myths and legends associated with Mid Autumn.

mooncakeMoon cake and Mongols examines the myths of moon cake's role in overthrow of Mongol dynasty. Is it historical fact or historical fiction? 

mooncakeMoon cakes explores tradition and contemporary variations of moon cakes as well as the social functions of moon cake as part of the gift system.

mooncake

Mid Autumn Main page

 

 

 

 


chinese new year banner kl chinatown
Chinese New Year banner in KL Chinatown, Malaysia
bao an festival flowers

Chinese New Year goods
chinese new year in yangon chinatown
New year goods in Yangon Chinatown, Myanmar
mid autumn in singapore chinatown
Mid Autumn lantern displays
chinese new year celebration in london chinatown
Chinese New Year celebration in London Chinatown
zongzi in san francisco chinatown
Meat and green bean zongzi in San Francisco Chinatown
yokohama chinatown
Moon cakes for sale at Yokohama Chinatown, Japan
yue lao
Yue Lao, Old Man under the moon,
Johor Bahru, Malaysia
nine emperors gods
Nine Emperor Gods prayers at the beach

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