50 Fun Facts About Chinese Festivals

Which festival is considered the most important one in China?

It is also celebrated across overseas Chinese communities from Malaysia to the United States.

Which food is eaten at the Duanwu, or Double Fifth, holiday?

The sticky rice dumplings are wrapped in reed or bamboo leaves into a pyramid shape.

On which date of the Chinese calendar are dragon boats traditionally raced?

Hence its other English name, the Double Fifth Festival; it lands in late May or early June.

Dragon boat races commemorate which poet and minister of the state of Chu?

Banished for opposing an alliance with Qin, he drowned himself in the Miluo River in despair.

In which waterway did Qu Yuan drown himself?

Locals raced out in boats to save him, which is said to be the origin of dragon boat racing.

Why, according to legend, did people throw rice balls into the river after Qu Yuan died?

That act is said to be the origin of zongzi.

Which Chinese holiday was the first added to UNESCO's intangible heritage list, in 2009?

The honour came a year after Beijing made it a national public holiday again.

What is the official English name used in Hong Kong for the Duanwu holiday?

Duanwu literally means 'starting five'.

Realgar wine, drunk at the Double Fifth, is dosed with what mineral?

It was traditionally a pesticide and antidote, and parents dabbed it on children's faces to repel the five poisonous creatures.

Which plants were hung above doors at Duanwu to ward off evil?

Calamus leaves are shaped like swords, and the strong smells were thought to repel misfortune.

What is the Qingming Festival commonly called in English?

Families clean ancestral graves and burn joss sticks and joss paper.

Qingming falls how many days after the spring equinox?

That puts it on 4, 5 or 6 April, since it tracks a solar term rather than the lunar months.

What green dumplings are eaten at Qingming in mainland China?

They are made of glutinous rice with Chinese mugwort or barley grass; Qingming became a public holiday there in 2008.

Qingming was influenced by the Cold Food Festival commemorating which nobleman?

He died when his duke set a forest on fire to force him out, so no fires were lit on the anniversary.

Which Tang emperor in AD 732 limited ancestral rites to once a year, on Qingming?

He was trying to curb wealthy families' extravagant and ostentatious ceremonies.

In Taiwan, Qingming was long fixed on 5 April to honour whose death?

He died on that date in 1975; the convention faded as his popularity waned.

The Lantern Festival falls on which day of the first lunar month?

It coincides with the full moon and marks the final day of the New Year celebrations.

What activity do children traditionally do with Lantern Festival lanterns?

Lanterns are almost always red to symbolise good fortune.

What glutinous rice balls are eaten at the Lantern Festival?

Southerners call them tangyuan; northerners call them yuanxiao, after the festival itself.

Which Han ruler, a Buddhist advocate, ordered homes to light lanterns on the 15th night?

He had noticed monks lighting lanterns in temples on that date, and the court order grew into a folk custom.

The Double Ninth is a statutory holiday in Hong Kong under what name?

It is a statutory public holiday there and in Macau.

Which activity is customary on the Double Ninth Festival?

Tradition also calls for chrysanthemum liquor and wearing the zhuyu plant.

Which flower is associated with the Double Ninth Festival?

People drink chrysanthemum tea or wine, and many localities host chrysanthemum exhibits.

Why is the ninth day of the ninth month considered auspicious?

Double nine means extra yang, hence the alternative name Double Yang Festival.

Taiwan has rededicated the Double Ninth Festival as what?

The holiday has long been an occasion to care for and appreciate the elderly.

The Double Ninth is known in Japan as the festival of which flower?

Kiku no Sekku is one of Japan's five sacred ancient festivals, held on 9 September.

The Qixi Festival celebrates the annual meeting of which mythical couple?

The weaver girl and the cowherd are separated by the Milky Way and reunite once a year.

Which birds form the bridge that lets the Qixi lovers meet?

The festival is sometimes called the Magpie Festival for that reason.

In the Qixi legend, the weaver girl and cowherd symbolise which two stars?

The 'Silver River' that separates them is the Milky Way.

Which Japanese festival was inspired by Qixi?

Korea's Chilseok and Vietnam's Thất Tịch share the same roots.

Qixi is often described as the Chinese equivalent of which Western holiday?

Girls traditionally prayed to the weaver girl for skill in needlework and a good husband.

On which night does the Ghost Festival fall?

The whole seventh month is regarded as Ghost Month, when spirits come out from the lower realm.

By what name do Taoists know the Ghost Festival?

Yulanpen is the Buddhist name, derived from the Ullambana Sutra.

Which Buddhist disciple's search for his dead mother underlies the Ghost Festival?

He found her reborn as a hungry ghost, unable to eat rice that turned to burning coal.

At Ghost Festival performances, why is the front row of seats left empty?

Shows are staged at night and at high volume to attract and please the spirits.

What is burned as offerings to visiting spirits during Ghost Month?

The papier-mâché versions of clothes, gold and other fine goods are meant for the ancestors' use.

The Laba Festival falls on the eighth day of which month?

La is the name of the final month, and ba means eight.

What is the signature food of the Laba Festival?

Also called eight-treasure congee, it mixes grains, beans, nuts and dried fruit.

Laba's fixed date was chosen to coincide with which event?

That makes it the counterpart of Japan's Rohatsu and South Asia's Bodhi Day.

Laba garlic is made by soaking garlic in what?

It steeps until Chinese New Year and is served with jiaozi; garlic is a homophone for 'calculate', a nudge to balance the books.

The Dongzhi Festival marks which astronomical event?

It is the year's longest night; afterwards yang energy is believed to grow with the daylight.

Which physician is credited with starting the Dongzhi dumpling custom?

He is said to have fed the poor to treat their chilblains one freezing winter in the Han dynasty.

In which dynasty was Dongzhi declared an official celebration?

It had first been celebrated under the Zhou and was once ranked alongside Chinese New Year in importance.

What tonic foods do Taiwanese favour at Dongzhi to fight the cold?

Dongzhi is the 'extreme of winter' and seen as the best time for strengthening dishes.

Who first proposed calling Chinese New Year the 'Spring Festival', in 1914?

He was interim president of the Republic of China at the time.

Which mythical beast is said to have been driven off at the first Chinese New Year?

The horned, lion-like creature ate villagers, especially children, in the night.

Which fruit should never be given as a Chinese New Year gift?

Oranges are especially welcome; pears are avoided.

What is the Mid-Autumn Festival's signature pastry?

Its round shape symbolises completeness and family reunion.

Which goddess is at the heart of the Mid-Autumn Festival legend?

She is the Moon Goddess of Immortality, wife of the archer Hou Yi.

In which year did mainland China restore Qingming and Duanwu as public holidays?

The week-long Golden Weeks for Labour Day and National Day had begun in 2000.