Chinese Festivals

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.

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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) 

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

Celebration 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.

Nian 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.

Red 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.

Yu 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.

Fire 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.

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

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

Dragon Boat Festival main page

Vesak Day

Vesak Day

Different Buddhist traditions celebrating Vesak.

Hungry Ghost Festival

The 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.

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

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

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

Mid Autumn Main page

Chinese New Year banner in KL Chinatown, Malaysia


Chinese New Year goods

New year goods in Yangon Chinatown, Myanmar

Mid Autumn lantern displays

Chinese New Year celebration in London Chinatown

Meat and green bean zongzi in San Francisco Chinatown

Moon cakes for sale at Yokohama Chinatown, Japan

Yue Lao, Old Man under the moon,
Johor Bahru, Malaysia

Nine Emperor Gods prayers at the beach