The Summer Holidays may officially be over now, but this does not mean there is no reason to stay in the holiday spirit. There are some exciting holidays coming up in China this autumn; the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day. Mid-Autumn festival is already coming up next week Thursday. And when autumn has passed we can already start looking forward to the national day and most anticipated holiday of the year; the Spring Festival. So here is what you need to know about all the upcoming holidays.
First up is the Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Moon Festival. It falls on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month, when the moon is brighter and fuller than at any other time of the year. This means this year the holiday will take place from the 15th until the 17th of September. During the festival people traditionally celebrate the arrival of autumn and the end of the harvest with their family by eating moon cakes. These round little cakes represent the shape of the full moon, and are given as presents to family and business relations, or used as offerings to Chang’e, an ancient Chinese goddess. According to the legend, Chang’e’s husband was given a potion that would make him ascend to heaven, but in an accident Chang’e drank the potion and floated up through the sky. She finally landed on the moon where she has lived ever since. While Mid-Autumn Festival may be over soon, you can already start preparing for National Day, which will take place only two weeks later.
On National Day China celebrates the founding of the People’s Republic of China on October 1st 1949. On this day Mao Zedong made a declaration on Tiananmen Square and promulgated the republic. The entire population gets a week long public holiday from October 1st until October 7th , and it is followed by a mandatory working weekend to make up for the productivity lost because of the vacation.
The National Day week, also known as the Golden Week is a popular time for vacation trips either within China or abroad. This can often cause large traffic jams and overly crowded tourist attractions. The Golden Week is All in all golden week is a good time to celebrate and go on vacation. But make sure to be well prepared for the crowds.
After Golden Week the next important holiday will take place in 2017. When February arrives it is time for China’s most celebrated and well-known holiday; The Spring Festival, also known as Chinese New Year. People from all across the country travel to their family to celebrate the holiday. This massive flow of people is known as the world’s largest human migration. The whole family comes together for a long-awaited reunion, and celebrate the New Year and the arrival of spring. Family members will exchange traditional red envelopes filled with money, or more modern online versions of these envelopes. The streets are filled with fireworks. People perform traditional lion dances and dragon dances to get rid of evil spirits, practices that date back to ancient China. A more modern addition to the list of Spring Festival traditions is the Spring Festival Gala. This televised gala is one of the most watched television programmes in history. The Spring Festival is an exciting time to enjoy with the entire family.
Other festivals marked on the Chinese holiday calendar are:
- New Year’s Eve: in January
- Qingming: in April
- Labour Day:in May
- Dragon boat Festival:in June
- Teacher’s Day: in September
To learn more about the Chinese Holidays and to find out when they take place, please see our Maxxelli 2016 Holiday Calendar.
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