If you travel China we suggest that you witness such impressive and unforgettable event as festivals in China. There are three main holidays of a week's duration among numerous festivals in China: Chinese New Year in February, International Labour Day the first week of May and National Day the first week in October. Practically all the traditional festivals in China are based on the Chinese lunar calendar. Bare in mind that if you decided to travel China during the period of festival celebrations, you will definitely have problems with travel bookings, so take care of this in advance. It's unbelievable hard to book tickets during these three holidays, all hotels usually offer additional flights and trains, but anyway they will certainly be overcrowded.
Undoubtedly the most significant festival in China is the Spring Festival (Lunar New Year-18 Feb 07; 7 Feb 08), which takes place at the first day of a new year. New Year is one of the most widely celebrated holiday in many countries, so you have a nice opportunity to take pleasure in celebrating one more New Year in charming and unforgettable manner, if you travel China.
The first day of the Spring festival is the first meal for Chinese. Most people hold traditional celebrations, for example eat dumplings, as their forefathers in north and south parts of the country did, you kjnow all these incredible eating and drinking items in China. Townspeople more often abandon old traditions, such as sending out traditional greeting cards, they just call up their relatives and friends and congratulate them.
Mid-Autumn Festival (15th day of 8th lunar month-6 Oct 06; 25 Sep 07) is one of the most essential festivals in China. In Beijing you can find and visit that very park, where in ancient times Chinese emperors came to pray to Heaven for lucky year, favourable weather conditions and good harvest.
In the morning of the 15th day of the second lunar month they used to bow their thanks to the sun and in the evening of the 15th day of the eighth lunar month to praise the moon. This tradition has more than 2000 year history.
In different parts of China people celebrate this festival in a different ways. But still there is one old tradition respected and kept be Chinese, this is the moon shaped cakes with different flavours. So if you happen to travel China and visit Beijing or Hangzhou, when you can find the best places to go out and view the moon. |