List of Traditional Chinese Festivals: Top 10 Festivals

Chinese New Year festival is on the top of the traditional festivals celebrated in China. China celebrates many traditional and culturally based festivals. Festivals are a part of culture and society with pure emotions and feelings. China is one of the most populated country. Festivals are an essential part of the people and culture of China. Each festival gives an opportunity to people of China to celebrate it and stay happy.

In China, there are several cultural festivals for which we have curated the list of traditional Chinese Festivals with the date.

Top 10 Traditional Chinese Festivals by list

Below is the list of traditional Chinese festivals celebrated in China.

Serial No	Festival Name	Date
1.	Chinese New Year	10th February
2.	China’s Lantern Festival	24th February
3.	Qingming Festival	4th April
4.	Dragon Boat Festival	10th June
5.	Double Seventh Day	10th August
6.	Chinese Mid Autumn Festival	17th September
7.	Winter Solstice	21st December
8.	Hungry Ghost Festival	18th August
9.	Double Ninth Festival	11th October
10.	Summer Solstice	20th June

Traditional Chinese Festivals

China has a diverse number of traditional festivals celebrated among different corners in China. These festivals have their roots from decade’s long years back. It will be fun to participate in the vibrant colors of the festival with China.  The below mentioned are the most famous festivals celebrated in China. 

Summer Solstice

The Summer Solstice will be celebrated on 20^th June, 2024. This festival is the earliest festival of China celebrated before the Qing Dynasty’s period. The people make sacrifices to the sun and welcome the turn-around of the sun. This is basically an astronomical event and people also celebrate it as a festival.

• There is a tradition to eat dog meat and lychees on this day.
• Summer Solstice is the longest day of the year. 
• On this day people connect with the positive energy of the sun, which gives them strength and peace. 

Double Ninth Festival

The Double Ninth Festival will be celebrated on 11^th October, 2024. The festival is also referred to as Chongyang festival. On this day, the people of China visit the graves of their loved ones and family members. 

• People burnt paper clothes as offerings to god. 
• It is celebrated on the 9^th day of the 9^th lunar month. 
• On this day people climb mountains, drink wine, and eat double night cakes. 

Hungry Ghost Festival

The Hungry Ghost Festival will be celebrated on 18^th August, 2024. The festival is also referred to as the Zhongyuan Festival. According to the traditions, on this day the doors of hell are opened and devils or spirits are freely roaming here and there on earth to get food and entertainment. 

• The festival is celebrated on the 15^th day of the 7^th lunar month.
• For the sake of satisfaction of those spirits, people offer many things to them like money, cars, ornaments, good food, mansions and many more lavish things. 

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Winter Solstice

The Winter Solstice will be celebrated on 21^st December, 2024. This festival is also referred to as Dongzhi festival. The festival is associated with different agricultural activities done in China. This festival is the symbol of victory of light over darkness. 

• This is the time when farmers harvest their winter crops such as barley and wheat.
• The night of this day is considered as the longest night of that year. 
• There is a tradition to eat dumplings on the Winter Solstice in China.

Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival 

The Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival will be celebrated on 17^th September, 2024. The festival is also referred to as the Moon festival. This is a harvest festival celebrated in China. On this day, people worship the God of Heaven. 

• Houses are decorated with lights, lanterns, and night dance parties are held in China on this day.
• This festival is also known as moon-cake festival, as there is a tradition to eat moon-cake on this day.

Double Seventh Day 

The Double Seventh Day will be celebrated on 10^th August, 2024. This festival is also referred to as “Chinese Valentine’s Day”. The day usually falls on the 7^th day of the 7^th lunar month. This is considered as the most romantic occasion. 

• The origin of the festival is said to be based on the love story of two legendary lovers named Niulang and Zhinv. 
• This day is a celebration of love and romance. 

Dragon Boat Festival 

The Dragon Boat Festival will be celebrated on 10^th June, 2024. The festival is also referred to as the Double Fifth Festival. The day falls on the 5^th day of the 5^th lunar month. The festival has a long history of more than two thousand years back. On this day racing takes place of the different dragon boats. 

• This is a folk festival in which people worship god and pray for a good future and safe life.  
• People race, celebrate, eat and dance. 
• Dragon boats are simply amazing, decorated by the heads of the dragon in front and tails at the end of the boats.  

Qing-ming Festival

The Qing-ming Festival will be celebrated on 4^th April, 2024. The real meaning of this festival is pure brightness. The festival usually falls on the 5^th day after the spring equinox takes place. People worship their ancestors and show respect towards them. This festival is considered as the most important festival in china.

• People visit the tomb of their ancestors and sweep the tomb, which is why this day is also referred to as tomb-sweeping day.
• People offer fish, duck, chicken, and other varieties of food like cake, rice, and vegetables to their ancestors. 
• People usually prefer to wear light colored clothes as they are offering prayers to ancestors.

China’s Lantern Festival

The Lantern Festival will be celebrated on 24^th February, 2024. This festival is also referred to as Shangyuan Festival. This festival falls on the 15th day of the 1^st month of the lunar Chinese calendar. This day has been marked as the last and final day of the Chinese New Year’s celebration. 

• The Chinese flying lanterns were invented by Zhuge Liang. 
• People lit lanterns and flew them. Lanterns are a symbol of good luck.
• People usually eat sticky rice, dumplings, sweet dishes and other food. 
• It is usually observed that people consume tangyuan on this day. 

Chinese New Year

The Chinese New Year will be celebrated on 10^th February, 2024. This festival lasts for fifteen to sixteen days. This festival is also referred to as the Lunar New Year or can also be known by the name Spring Festival. It is the most important festival for people in China where they celebrate this New Year with their families and there is a week of public holiday.

• People are welcoming the New Year with good hopes and a good future and saying goodbye to whatever happened before.
• People celebrate, wear new clothes, eat good food, decorate their houses, and worship god and their ancestors.

List of Traditional Chinese Festivals – FAQs

Which is the main traditional festival in China?

The Chinese New Year festival, Chinese lantern festival and Yuan Xiao festival are the main traditional festival celebrated in China.

When is China National festival celebrated?

National Celebration Day is celebrated on 1^st October every year as the national festival or day of the People’s Republic of China.

Which is the longest Chinese festival?

Spring festival is the longest festival celebrated in China.

Name 5 dance forms of China.

The 5 dance forms of China are stated below:

• Court Dance
• Nichang Yuyi
• Ribbon Dance
• Tibetan Dance
• The Lion Dance