Late
January
Chinese
New Year (Spring Festival)
Chinese
New Year is one of the best known, the most widely celebrated and certainly the
oldest New Year festivals in the world. Chinese communities all over the globe
have made it a big event in their respective communities, but there's no better
place to witness the start of the new lunar year than in China itself.
Chinese
New Year, also known as the Spring Festival, falls on the first day of the first
lunar month. The date changes in the Western calendar each year. The
preparations start long before the event and the festivities last for around 15
days, ending with the Lantern Festival.
In China
the New Year is widely celebrated, and everything closes down, officially, for
four days. People jam the transport networks to get home to their families.
Preparations begin about a month before the day itself, building up to huge
house-cleaning sessions to sweep out bad luck. Doors and windows are freshly
painted - the colors for the festival are red (for happiness) and gold (for
wealth) - and decorative paper cut outs and paintings are put up. Poetic
couplets expressing wishes for happiness and longevity, written on rolls of red
paper, are traditionally put on gateposts and doors.
On the
night itself, almost everyone in China holds a huge family dinner of seafood and
dumplings, as well as the traditional New Year cakes. Then, at midnight,
fireworks light up the skies all over the country. On the next day, people
traditionally visit relatives, friends and neighbors with new year greetings
("Gong Xi Fa Cai": "Happy and Prosperous New Year"), and married couples give
Hong Bao (red packets of money) to children and unmarried adults. There are also
high-energy dragon dances, lantern shows, and other entertainments throughout
the celebrations.
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Lantern
Festival
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Admission
is free.
The
streets of Shanghai light up at night during this huge festival as revelers walk
about holding Chinese lanterns. Legend claims that the lanterns protect citizens
from being attacked and hauled away by evil spirits lurking in Shanghai's air
space..
January
Ringing
of the Bell
One
hundred eight honored Buddhists ascend the Drum Tower in Longhua Park to strike
the temple bell at midnight on New Year's Eve each year. According to ancient
Buddhist doctrine, each stroke of the bell represents one kind of earthly
happiness.
Chinese
New Year, also known as the Spring Festival, falls on the first day of the first
lunar month - the date changes in the Western calendar each year. The Longhua
Temple is a great place to head for the event - it has always done its own
spectacular thing for local worshippers and tourists alike. The temple's
vegetarian dishes are very popular with tourists, but on New Year's Eve
"over-year noodles" are the only choice - a dish that represents wealth and
success in the coming year.
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Early
April
Tomb
Sweeping Day
China's
Tomb Sweeping Day, every year in April, is a day for worshipping ancestors;
people visit the graves of their departed relatives and burn "ghost money"
(money for use in the afterworld) in their honor.
Also
called Qingming Day, this tradition is observed by millions of Chinese all
across the world. It has its roots partly in the half-legendary huge
resettlements that were ordered during the Ming Dynasty, when thousands of
families were ordered first to Konglong county before being sent to their final
destinations.
Thus, to
this day, many Chinese believe their ancestors came from that county. The event
also appeals to many overseas Chinese who identify their own diaspora with that
of the people who suffered under the Ming rulers.
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Early
April
Shanghai International Tea Culture Festival
Hundreds
of thousands of tea lovers, experts and tea producers make it to Shanghai for
the International Tea Culture Festival. As well as plenty of impressive tea
ceremonies, visitors get to taste a good few brands as activities spread around
town, attend seminars and visit famous tea spots.
The
history of the tea culture festival goes back to when the Revolutionary History
Exhibition Hall in Zhabei District opened the Songyuan Teahouse
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Early
April
Longhua
Temple Fair
Longhua
Park is famous for its ancient temple, the Longhua Pagoda, its evening
bell-striking ceremony and beautiful peach blossoms. It is especially worth
visiting during the Longhua Temple fair, the largest in Shanghai and said to be
the day when dragons visit the temple to help grant people's wishes.
Stalls
surround the temple and thousands of people go to the booths selling every kind
of traditional Chinese food and crafts. The temple is decorated spectacularly,
and lit at night to full effect.
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Early-Mid June
Dragon
Boat Festival
Every
year, on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, a number of Chinese cities (as
well as overseas Chinese all across the world) commemorate the death of poet Qu
Yuan in ancient times by staging a Dragon Boat Festival. Usually celebrations go
on before and after, but there's one day of races.
Qu Yuan
lived as a courtier in the court of the Chou Dynasty until one day he was thrown
into the sea after maltreatment at the hands of a corrupt and evil official.
When the local fishermen learnt of the poet's demise, they apparently set to in
their boats, trawling the waters to find him. Their efforts were unsuccessful so
they threw rice dumplings into the sea, thumping the water with their paddles to
prevent the poor poet being eaten by piranhas.
An
important part of this timeless celebration is the eating of zongzi - the
pyramid-shaped dumpling made of glutinous rice wrapped in bamboo or reed leaves.
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Mid
June
Shanghai International Film Festival
The
Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF) fills various venues around the
city, presenting over 900 official films from more than 60 countries. Founded in
1993, it is the only international film festival in China and has Grade-A
international status.
The
nine-day event is made up of four strands: the Jin Jue Award International Film
Competition, the International Film Panorama, the International Film Market and
the Jin Jue International Film Forum.
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Mid
September
Chinese
Moon Festival
Also known
as the Mid-Autumn Festival, China's Moon Festival is celebrated around town and
especially in people's homes. Traditionally it marks the end of the harvest
season.
The
festival is marked by the making and eating of "moon cakes" - round pastries
filled with sweet fillings. In Shanghai, the favorite filling is a red bean
paste. Houses are decorated with colored animal-shaped paper lanterns and altars
are piled with round fruits to symbolize the shape of the moon. The evening is
spent moon-gazing in the company of family, before enjoying a feast at midnight.
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Mid
Sept-Early Oct
Shanghai
Tourist Festival
The annual
Shanghai Tourist Festival offers a huge amount of entertainment at venues across
the city. Float parades, markets, a folklore tour of Shanghai Lanes, a Chinese
Festival at Yu Garden, and a Music Fireworks Festival in Century Park are part
of the festivities.
Mid
Oct-Mid Nov
Shanghai International Art Festival
Shanghai
hosts a month-long arts festival every year with a varied program of more than
150 performances. This includes everything from symphony orchestras, dance and
opera to acrobatics, magic, and drama.
Also on
the bill are an international piano competition, a magic festival and contest,
an Asian music festiva,l and an arts and crafts fair.
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