Chinese Calendar - Holidays

Holidays

The Chinese calendar year has nine main festivals, seven determined by the lunisolar calendar, and two derived from the solar agricultural calendar. (Farmers actually used a solar calendar, and its 24 terms, to determine when to plant crops, due to the inaccuracy of the lunisolar traditional calendar. However, the traditional calendar has also come to be known as the agricultural calendar.) The two special holidays are the Qingming Festival (about 15 days after the spring equinox) and the Winter Solstice Festival, falling upon the respective solar terms, at ecliptic longitudes of 15° and 270°, respectively. As for all other calendrical calculations, the calculations use civil time in China, UTC+08:00

Date English Chinese Vietnamese Remarks 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
month 1
day 1
Chinese New Year
(Spring Festival)
春節
chūnjié
Tết Nguyên Đán
(元旦)
Family gathering and festivities for 3–15 days Feb 7 Jan 26 Feb 14 Feb 3 Jan 23 Feb 10
month 1
day 15
Lantern Festival
(Chap Goh Mei)
元宵節
yuánxiāojié
Tết Thượng Nguyên
(上元)
  • Lanterns parade
  • Unmarried girls will throw mandarin oranges into the sea, a river or a pond to find a partner (Chinese Valentine's Day)
  • Yuanxiao is eaten
Feb 21 Feb 9 Feb 28 Feb 17 Feb 6 Feb 24
April 4
or 5
Qingming Festival
(Clear and Bright)
清明節
qīngmíngjié
Tết Thanh Minh
(清明)
Tomb sweeping Apr 4 Apr 4 Apr 5 Apr 5 Apr 4 Apr 4
month 5
day 5
Dragon Boat Festival 端午節
duānwǔjié
Tết Đoan Ngọ
(端午)
Dragon boat racing and zongzi eating Jun 8 May 28 Jun 16 Jun 6 Jun 23 Jun 12
month 7
day 7
Night of Sevens 七夕
qīxī
Thất tịch For lovers, like Valentine's Day Aug 7 Aug 26 Aug 16 Aug 6 Aug 23 Aug 13
month 7
day 15 (14 in some locations)
Ghost Festival
(Spirit Festival)
中元節
zhōngyuánjié
Tết Trung Nguyên
(中元), or
Le Vu Lan
(禮盂蘭)
Offer tributes and respect to the deceased Aug 15 Sep 3 Aug 24 Aug 14 Aug 31 Aug 21
month 8
day 15
Mid-Autumn Festival
(Moon Festival)
中秋節
zhōngqiūjié
Tết Trung Thu
(中秋)
Family gathering and moon cake eating Sep 14 Oct 3 Sep 22 Sep 12 Sep 30 Sep 19
month 9
day 9
Double Ninth Festival
(Double Yang)
重陽節
chóngyángjié
Tết Trùng Cửu
(重九)
Mountain climbing and flower shows Oct 7 Oct 26 Oct 16 Oct 5 Oct 23 Oct 13
month 10
day 15
Peaceful Festival or Xia Yuan 下元節
xiàyuánjié
Tết Hạ Nguyên
(下元)
Pray for a peaceful year to the Water God Nov 12 Dec 1 Nov 20 Nov 10 Nov 28 Nov 17
Dec 21
or 22
Winter Solstice Festival 冬至
dōngzhì
Lễ hội Đông Chí Family gathering, eat Tong yuen Dec 21 Dec 21 Dec 22 Dec 22 Dec 21 Dec 21
month 12
day 24 (23 in some locations)
Kitchen God Festival 謝灶
xièzào
Tết Táo Quân
(竈君)
Worshipping the kitchen god with thanks Jan 31 Jan 19 Feb 7 Jan 27 Jan 17 Feb 4

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