Festivals That Will Make You Pack Bags For China

Dongzhi Festival

A festival of lanterns and light with delicious and mouthwatering Tangyuan. It is a winter solstice festival that believes in connecting families. On this day the people unite with their families, light up lanterns and enjoy dinner with them. Tangyuan is the gluten rice balls that hold importance in this celebration. It is believed that they depict a full moon which is again related to the ending of a year. People consider them one year old on this day. If legends are to be believed a servant in the emperor's castle was crying as she was unable to meet her family and the advisor of the emperor promised her that he would help her reunite with her family. He dressed up as a fortune teller and predicted that the china will burn at the end of this winter solace night. The emperor got frightened and took the help of the same advisor and he gave an idea to light up lanterns as this would show that the land is burning. The same happened and the servant was reunited with her family and everyone celebrated it by having these multicolored gluten rice balls. 

At this festival, you can see lights and lanterns everywhere and the locals meet their relatives with sweets and the families have their dinner together.

Chinese New Year Festival

It is on 25th January and the best New year celebration you would have ever seen. The Chinese works on the lunar calendar and according to them, this is the 4717th year. It is also known as the spring festival. According to the lunar calendar, the new year starts from 1st Jan and ends at the 15th full moon. Hence, there is no fixed date of it. Your zodiac animal changes with every passing year. The country is all red as it is considered the most auspicious color. Also, it is the longest Chinese festival and is a 16-day long holiday. The people from every corner visit their home for the new year's dinner. Many things are banned during this festival. One cannot shower, or throw away the garbage as it is considered inauspicious. If you are lucky enough you can take part in the dinner of any local and taste the best of their culture and authentic food. You can even try visiting the famous eateries nearby and have a traditional dinner and their traditional wine. This is the biggest festival and you can witness the largest firecrackers show in China. People burn all the firecrackers in the country as they believe this will scare away the bad luck and the monsters.

Yuan Xiao Festival

Chinese new year is incomplete without this festival. It marks the end of the new year taboos that everyone follows until the Yuan Xiao Festival. The Taboos that are followed are: No showering, No throwing of garbage outside the house, no swear words, etc. It is also known as the official lantern festival and the whole country can be seen lighting up to the joy and the sky is covered up in beautiful lanterns, flying drones, and fireworks. It holds great importance in the life of Chinese people and the celebratory new year. One can experience this festival of lights and joy when they are on china vacation packages. 

There are many festivals in China around the year but three festivals hold major value in their hearts. These festivals observe the biggest migration of the year as everyone from around the corner take off and meet their families for a reunion on to have dinner together on The Chinese new year. You see the sky lit up with lanterns and crackers. People tend to reuse the crackers on Yuan Xiao. Some people eat dumplings all day long as per the ritual but with modernization, people have it once in a day. You can see people dressed up in their beautiful attires and kids receive money in a red envelope. This envelope holds great value in traditions. 

There are many more festivals like china's day and many other but the nation observes a week-long off only in the new year and for the celebrations around it.