Festivals · 节日

Chinese Festivals — The Year Ahead

All nine major Chinese festivals listed in order, each with its date in this year's Gregorian calendar and a one-line cultural blurb.

The festivals

春节 · Lunar New Year (lunar 1/1)

The reunion dinner, red envelopes, and the long breath of the year. The biggest holiday of the Chinese calendar.

元宵节 · Lantern Festival (lunar 1/15)

Sweet rice balls (汤圆) and paper lanterns released to the dark — the formal end of New Year celebrations.

清明 · Pure Brightness (early April)

Sweeping graves, offerings to ancestors, walks in green things. A day for慎终追远 — honoring the past.

端午节 · Dragon Boat Festival (lunar 5/5)

Zongzi, dragon boat races, mugwort hung at the door to ward off illness.

七夕 · Qixi (lunar 7/7)

Chinese Valentine's. Lovers reunite across the Milky Way once a year.

中元节 · Ghost Festival (lunar 7/15)

Offerings to ancestors and the restless. Don't whistle at night.

中秋节 · Mid-Autumn Festival (lunar 8/15)

Full moon, family reunion, mooncakes — the year's second-biggest holiday.

重阳节 · Double Ninth (lunar 9/9)

Climb a hill, drink chrysanthemum wine, honor elders.

腊八 · Laba (lunar 12/8)

A bowl of eight-treasure porridge — winter's edge, the year almost over.