How to Feel Festive in China

With seven official national holidays in China, it’s very easy to feel festive all year round

With seven official national holidays in China, it’s very easy to feel festive all year round. Let’s start at the beginning, with New Year’s Day, January 1st - or “yuandan” in Chinese. This is often celebrated in similar fashion to the West, complete with champagne, hangovers and fireworks.

Once you’ve recovered from “yuandan,” Chinese New Year (also known as lunar new year, or “chunjie” in Chinese) is just around the corner. This is a much more elaborate celebration which historically lasts fifteen days and involves eating copious amounts of fish and dumplings, and of course, lighting more firecrackers.  Also, don’t forget to give red envelopes, or “hongbao,” filled with cash to the important people in your life. The Chinese New Year celebrations conclude with the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the new year – in some places, single women throw oranges in a river, in hopes of their being found and eaten by their star-crossed lover!

Next up is Tomb Sweeping Festival, or “qingming.” This more solemn holiday involves paying respect to your ancestors so as a foreigner, don’t make the mistake of wishing your Chinese friends a Happy Qingming! The holiday is often commemorated by literally sweeping the gravesites of ancestors, or burning gifts to be enjoyed by ancestors in the afterlife. This can include paper money, and paper mache model houses, cars, and mobile phones. And don’t forget the fireworks.

Labor Day (“laodongjie”)is celebrated every May 1, just like in much of the rest of the world, except the United States. This was formerly a “Golden Week” holiday, which meant a full week off, but China reformed its holiday schedule in 2008 to make more, shorter holidays. While historically, Labor Day was meant to celebrate the rights of the worker and is important in Communist Party ideology, it is most commonly celebrated as an excuse to rest from work and light those firecrackers.

Usually falling in June, Dragon Boat Festival (“duanwujie”) is an ancient traditional holiday which was resurrected as an official Chinese holiday during the 2008 reform of the national holiday calendar. Perhaps the most exciting part of this holiday is the actual dragon boat races. Competitors enjoy a festive day on the water with lots of eating, drinking, (and fireworks), and have races with their friends, neighbors, and rival businesses.

Interestingly, China does not have any official holidays during the summer. And in most parts of the country it is very hot. You can celebrate summer like some local men like to by rolling your shirt over your belly and drinking a beer. Not many opportunities for lighting firecrackers in the summer either, unless it’s a wedding.

Mid-autumn Festival (“zhongqiujie”) is another lunar holiday which generally falls in late September or October. Mid-autumn festival is marked by giving (and re-gifting) mooncakes to friends, colleagues and neighbors. Much like Christmas fruitcake in western countries, these “delicacies” are often passed on to other friends and neighbors, rather than actually eaten! And of course, more firecrackers.

Often coinciding with Mid-autumn Festival is China’s National Day (“guoqingjie”) which is always celebrated on October 1. This represents the anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China and includes parades, various patriotic displays, and, you guessed it – fireworks. Beijing is really the place to be for National Day Celebrations.

For those wondering how to fill the three month gap between National Day and New Year’s Day, the increasing popularity of western holidays helps ensure that you never lose that festive holiday feeling all year long. However, sometimes western holidays take on an interesting twist in China.

Halloween (“wanshengjie”) is celebrated much like in the west, with cute costumes for kids, racy costumes for women, and enough sweets and candy to make the whole country diabetic several times over.

Thanksgiving (“ganenjie”) is also celebrated much like in the U.S., with turkeys now widely available in major cities with a sizeable population of Americans. Some families are convinced by Chinese arguments on the superior taste of duck over turkey. Others will prepare a Turducken (turkey, stuffed with duck, stuffed with chicken) in the spirit of compromise and global goodwill. Since it falls on a Thursday, which is a working day in China, many families will wait until the following weekend to put on sweatpants and nearly eat themselves into a coma.

Since Thanksgiving’s not an official holiday in China, “Black Friday” doesn’t really exist, but shopping is most definitely the national pastime all year round. Most locals (and even foreigners) don’t wait for sales, but rather haggle on prices like their life depends on it.

Shanghai was an historic haven for Jews fleeing Nazi Germany in the 1930s, and although Hanukkah (“guangmingjie”) is not widely celebrated in China, there are active synagogues, kosher butchers, and all the necessary accoutrements for celebrating the “festival of lights” in China’s major cities, as well as historic Jewish cities like Kaifeng, Henan Province.

A visit to one of China’s major coastal cities during the Christmas (“shengdanjie”) holidays will resemble 5th Avenue in New York, complete with holiday store displays, Christmas trees and carols, and a lot of shopping. While foreigners in China tend to celebrate along traditional lines, local Chinese have morphed Christmas into sort of a holiday for young couples, similar to Valentine’s Day. In other words, you’d better buy your partner something nice!

With a year full of celebrations, it’s hard to know when to have a rest. Not to be a killjoy, but will close with a few words to the wise: while fireworks can look spectacular, they also lead to a big spike in emergency room visits, missing digits, or worse so take care. Enjoy the celebratory spirit which pervades the holidays, but keep alcohol intake moderate to preserve your health so you can celebrate for years to come!