Chinese National Holidays in 2021

January 1st is considered to be the first day of the year by the Gregorian calendar, commonly used around the world including China.

Chinese people also celebrate some holidays according to the Lunar Calendar – but in everyday life, everyone uses the Gregorian calendar.

It can also be referred to as the Lunar New Year or Spring Festival.

The years of the Chinese calendar work on a 12-year cycle. Each year is represented by an animal. The animals, in order, are as follows: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, Pig. It is thought that people born during a certain year will have the attributes of their corresponding zodiac animal.

2021 will be the Year of the Ox.

Tomb Sweeping Day dates back to over 2500 years ago. It is recognized as an important day to show respect to one’s ancestors.

On this day, Chinese people honor and commemorate their ancestors by visiting their graves. They make offerings of food and tea and burning incense. They also repair and sweep the tombs.

Labour day is also called Worker’s day. It is a public holiday that celebrates workers contributions to the country. Unlike other Chinese holidays, labour day is based on the traditional Gregorian calendar. That is opposed to the Chinese lunar calendar.

Traditionally, the labour day holiday is a time where people get together for family fun. Due to the warm weather over this period, it’s common for people to travel to natural settings and enjoy time outside.

While there are no traditional foods or cultural activities on this day, you can be sure there will be plenty to do in and outside of the cities.

The Dragon Boat festival is considered an important and traditional holiday in China. The dragon boat festival is called 端午节 in Chinese and takes place on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese lunar calendar.

The origin of the dragon boat festival is said to go all the way back to the 3rd century BC to the time of Qu Yuan, a patriotic poet who was a loyal official to the state of Chu. When the state of Qin conquered the state of Chu, Qu Yuan was so distraught that he drowned himself in a river.

When the local people heard of Qu Yuan’s death, they were very sad and rowed out on the river in search of his body. In order to keep fish from eating Qu Yuan’s body they threw balls of rice into the water for them to eat.

On this day Chinese people commemorate Qu Yuan by racing dragon boats and eating special sticky rice dumplings called Zongzi.

The Mid-Autumn Festival is often called ‘moon day’ or ‘mooncake day’. Traditionally it is a day to gather with family, eat mooncakes and light paper lanterns. The Mid-Autumn festival is also the most important national holiday after Chinese New Year. It is originated more than 3000 years ago when Chinese emperors worshipped the moon in Autumn to thank it for the harvest.

October first is National Day. It is a day to commemorate the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949. The holiday that follows lasts until the 7th and it usually referred to as ‘Golden Week’.

It’s important to remember that if you want to travel in China during golden week, you must book well in advance! Transportation is also very crowded during this time and hotel prices generally increase so plan out your trip wisely.