Traditional Festivals in Beijing

Traditional Chinese festivals with their unique origins and customs, demonstrate Asian culture and the Chinese people's good wishes for the future.

January & February

Spring Festival (Chunjie)

Between late January and mid-February

Marking the beginning of the Chinese Lunar New Year, this is a time when Beijing is at its most colourful. People decorate their shops and homes with messages of good fortune and paste protective images of gods at their doorways to scare away evil spirits. Firecrackers, drum banging and colourful costumes are prevalent throughout the course of the two-week festival. Of particular interest to visitors, temple fairs, often held from the first to the seventh day of the first Lunar month, are an interesting concoction of acrobatics, spiritualism and good-fortune games. Pick either Ditan Park or the Taoist Baiyun Guan (White Cloud Temple) for the biggest fairs in Beijing. Fairs are also held at Longtanhu Yuan (Dragon Lake Park), and near the Liulichang Culture Street, just south of the Beijing Subway's Hepingmen Station.

Lantern Festival (Yuanxiao Jie)

Two weeks after the first day of the Spring Festival

Marking the end of the Spring Festival, this is another colourful time to be in Beijing. Lantern processions and sweet-filled rice dumplings abound.

 

March & April

Tomb Sweeping Festival (Qingming Jie)

April 4 (leap years April 5)

A day to pay respects to departed relatives. People visit graves, placing flowers and burning fake money as a token of mourning.

May & June

Dragon Boat Festival (Duanwu Jie)

The Chinese Dragon Boat Festival is also called "duanyang," "double 5th" or "duanwu." The origins of today's festival are more often connected to the great patriotic and literary figure Qu Yuan. On the day of the festival, people mark the anniversary of his death by eating zongzi, a pyramid-shaped dumpling made of glutinous rice wrapped in bamboo or reed leaves. Boat races are also a part of the festivities.

July & October

Mid-autumn Festival (Zhongqiu Jie)

Between mid-September and early October

The Mid-autumn festival is a traditional harvest festival and family occasion. Round mooncakes are eaten that commemorate the moon, which is at its largest and brightest on this day. This is also why it is a traditional festival for lovers.

Double Ninth Festival (Chongyang Jie)

The Double Ninth Festival, also named Chongyang Festival, falls on the ninth day of the ninth month of the Chinese lunar calendar, hence it gets name of Double Ninth Festival. On this day, people like to drink chrysanthemum wine and have chrysanthemum cakes. People in ancient times believed that, in addition to detoxification, chrysanthemums could drive away evil spirits. It is also special day for people to pay their respects to the elderly and a day for the elderly to enjoy themselves. It has also been declared Day for the Elderly. Since the festival is held in the golden season of autumn, many people go hiking and climbing in the countryside.