Chinese Traditional Holidays

Mid-Autumn Festival (15th of the eighth month)

It is second only to the Chinese New Year in significance. The moon on this day is the fullest and largest to the eye. Viewing it by the whole family while feasting on good wine, fruits and moon-cakes features the night event.

There is also a beautiful story behind it. Children are told that there's fairy on the moon living in a spacious but cold crystal palace with her sole companion, a jade rabbit. A heavenly general and friend would occasionally pay her a visit, bringing along his fragrant wine. She would then dance a beautiful dance. The shadows on the moon made the story all the more credible and fascinating to the young imaginative minds.

When will the moon be clear and bright?
With a cup of wine in my hand, I ask the blue sky.
I don't know what season it would be in the heavens on this night.

mng yu j sh yu

b ji wn qng tin

b zh tin shng gng qu

jn x sh h nin

,



I'd like to ride the wind to fly home.
Yet I fear the crystal and jade mansions are much too high and cold for me.
Dancing with my moon-lit shadow
It does not seem like the human world

w y chng fng gu q ,

wi kng qing lu y y

go ch b shng hn

q w nng qng yng

h s zi rn jin

The moon rounds the red mansion Stoops to silk-pad doors
Shines upon the sleepless Bearing no grudge
Why does the moon tend to be full when people are apart?

zhun zh g
d y h
zho w min
b yng yu hn
h sh chng xing bi sh yun

rn yu bi hun l h yu yu yn qng yun qu c sh g nn qun
dn yun rn zhng ji qin l gng chn jun People may have sorrow or joy, be near or far apart
The moon may be dim or bright, wax or wane
This has been going on since the beginning of time
May we all be blessed with longevity Though far apart, we are still able to share the beauty of the moon together.

Double Ninth Day(Chong Yang Festival)

Yin & YangLongevityA special day for old people

Exercising

Chrysanthemum

Dogwood

D zi y xing wi y k Mi fng ji ji bi s qn Yo zh xing d dng go ch Bin ch zh y sho y rn

Double Ninth cake

New Year's Day (Spring Festival)

The originNianAn old man later being an immortalThe traditionsBefore the EveThe EveAfter the Eve

Sacrificial Ceremony

Cleaning

Decorations

Blessing has arrived at my house.

New Year Couplets

2 vertical lines

rhyme

1 horizontal line

New Year Pictures

surplus

Paper-cut

Motifs on Doors

The Eve

The Reunion Feast

Seeing the Year off

The Spring Festival Gala

Singing and Dancing

TV Short Sketch

Cross Talk

Beijing Opera

Beijing Opera Facial Masks

Red - loyalty, the heroic of character, such as: Guan Yu. Blue - strong, brave, shenanigans of character.Black - integrity, selfless, incorruptible White - sinister, suspected fraud.Green - stubborn, irascible characters. Yellow tough, violent characters.Purple - upright, calm figure. Gold, silver - a variety of fantasy.

At midnight

Letting off Firecrackers and Fireworks

The Big Footprint

Paying New Year Visit

Other Recreational Activities

Dragon dances

Dragon lantern dances

Lion dances

Lantern Festival

15th of the 1st lunar month

Lanterns

Riddles

Ice Sculpture Lantern Fair

Yuan Xiao

Pure Brightness Festival

Qing Ming (Pure & Bright in Chinese) (Fifth of the 24 Solar Terms) Originally it was a celebration of spring. People used to customarily go out on an excursion to "tread grass". Later it became day dedicated to the dear departed. Tidying up ancestors' tombs is its major big event.

Spring Outings

Transplanting willow cuttings

Flying kites

Paying homage to the dead

Duan Wu (Dragon Boat) Festival (5th of the 5th month)

Said to be in memory of a great patriot poet of the then State of Chu during the Warring States period (475-221 B.C.), Qu Yuan, who drowned himself to protest his emperor who gave in to the bully State of Qin. For fear that fish may consume his body, people of Chu launched their boats and started throwing rice dumplings wrapped in bamboo leaves into the river where he was drowned to feed the fish. Now the big event of dragon boat contest may be a legacy of such activity. People today still eat the bamboo-leave rice dumplings on the occasion today.

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