中国传统节日

Why this place

Chinese festivals follow the lunar calendar, and each has its own food, its own customs and its own mood: the Spring Festival with dumplings and reunion, Qingming with grave-sweeping, Duanwu with river racing, Mid-Autumn with mooncakes. Two of them — the Spring Festival and the National Day holiday — shut the country down and move hundreds of millions of people.

What to see

• The Spring Festival (Chinese New Year) — lanterns, temple fairs and dumplings; the biggest event of the year
• The Lantern Festival, fifteen days later, with lantern displays and tangyuan
• Qingming in early April, for grave-sweeping and the first green of spring
• Duanwu (Dragon Boat Festival) in early summer, with river racing and zongzi
• Mid-Autumn in September or October, with mooncakes and family reunions
• Minority festivals: the Water-Splashing Festival in Xishuangbanna and the Torch Festival in Yunnan and Sichuan

What to eat

• Dumplings at New Year, tangyuan at Lantern, zongzi at Duanwu, mooncakes at Mid-Autumn
• Every festival has a specific food, and the shops fill with it a fortnight beforehand

How to plan

Plan a trip around one festival if you can — but book transport and hotels months ahead.

Best time

Check the lunar calendar against your travel dates

Practical tips

• During the Spring Festival and the October National Day holiday, transport sells out and prices triple; either plan far ahead or avoid those weeks entirely