China Holidays & Festivals

Holiday Name	2026 Date	2026 Holiday	2027 Date	2027 Holiday
New Year's Day	Jan. 1	Jan. 1 - 3	Jan. 1	Jan. 1 - 3
Chinese New Year	Feb. 17	Feb. 15 - 23	Feb. 6	Feb. 4 - 12
Qingming Festival	Apr. 5	Apr. 4 - 6	Apr. 5	Apr. 3 - 5
May Day	May 1	May 1 - 5	May 1	May 1 - 5
Dragon Boat Festival	Jun. 19	Jun. 19 - 21	Jun. 9	Jun. 9
Mid-Autumn Day	Sep. 25	Sep. 25 - 27	Sep. 15	Sep. 15
National Day	Oct. 1	Oct. 1 - 7	Oct. 1	Oct. 1 - 7

 

Check China Public Holidays 2026

In addition to the above seven festivals, Chinese people celebrate four others on which some people have a half day off - Women’s Day on March 8th, Youth Day on May 4th, Children’s Day on June 1st and Army Day on August 1st.

Many other galas and anniversaries are celebrated without days off, such as Arbor Day on March 12th and Teachers' Day on September 10th, as well as China’s traditional festivals like Lantern Festival, Double Seventh Festival and Winter Solstice. 

Please refer to the Detailed 2026 / 2027 / 2028 China Public Holiday Calendar
 Like worldwide, China celebrates New Year’s Day on January 1st each year to welcome the arrival of the new year. However, the scale is not as large as during the Chinese New Year. Still, light shows and fireworks are held in some major sites, such as the Light Show at the Shanghai Bund and the Victoria Harbor Firework Show in Hong Kong. The holiday is usually 3 days long. 
 It is China’s most important and grandest festival, falling on the first day of the first lunar month, usually between mid- to late January and February. The next Chinese New Year falls on February 6th, 2027. 

To welcome this day, Chinese people typically start preparing two weeks in advance: city streets are decorated with red lanterns and red Chinese knots, and people do a deep cleaning at home and buy goods for the Chinese New Year. Thus, you can feel a strong festive atmosphere very early. 

Similar to Christmas, Chinese New Year has a core concept of family reunion. The Chinese New Year holiday lasts 9 days and is China’s longest public holiday. During this period, Chinese people travel great distances to return to their hometowns to reunite with family. Apart from this, many also choose to travel for sightseeing during the holiday, another main source of the Spring Festival Travel Rush. 

Another key meaning of the Chinese New Year is to ward off misfortune and make best wishes, so there are the following traditional customs: staying up late on New Year’s Eve, giving Red Envelopes, sending greetings, setting off firecrackers, hanging “Fu” characters, putting up posters of the door gods, and couplets. 

Folk Performance for Chinese New Year

Spring Festival Couplets

 It is one of the Chinese Twenty-four Solar Terms, usually falling on April 4th or 5th of the Gregorian calendar and the public holiday is also usually 3 days long. Traditionally, Qingming is a solemn day to visit graves and honor ancestors. From this day on, temperatures in northern China begin to rise gradually, and vegetation becomes vibrant and alive. This gives a custom of going on spring outings and connecting with nature. 
 It is one of China’s longest holidays, typically lasting 5 consecutive days around May 1st. Coupled with the favorable climate and already green wilderness, it’s one of the busiest travel periods in China. 
 

Rice Dumplings

The festival is on the 5th day of the 5th lunar month, which usually falls in June and the holiday is 3 days long, too. It originates from the story of the patriotic poet Qu Yuan, who drowned himself in the Miluo River; the people rowed out in boats to scatter rice to protect his body from fish’s bites, which evolved into the traditional customs of dragon boat racing and eating zongzi, aka rice dumplings. Other customs include hanging mugwort, wearing scented sachets, tying colorful strings and drinking rice wine - all intended to wish safety and peace. 
 Falling on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month, usually in September, the Mid-Autumn Festival is China’s second most important traditional festival after the Chinese New Year. The Mid-Autumn Holiday generally lasts 3 days and marks a minor travel peak. 

One of the core customs is moon appreciation, originally a solemn ritual to express gratitude for the harvest. Around the 15th day of the 8th lunar month, the moon is usually at its fullest and the full moon symbolizes reunion in Chinese culture, so it is also a day for family reunion. Mooncakes resemble the shape of the moon, so eating mooncakes is also a major custom. Other traditions are hanging lanterns, and drinking Osmanthus wine, etc. 

Full Moon View on Mid-Autumn Festival

 China’s National Day falls on October 1st of the Gregorian calendar, to celebrate the founding of the People’s Republic of China on October 1st, 1949. The Chinese people enjoy a seven-day holiday. If it coincides with the Mid-Autumn Festival, the holiday extends to eight days. 
 In China, the National Day Holiday has another name, “Golden Week”, mainly originating from the boost in tourism. On the one hand, it is one of China’s longest public holidays. On the other hand, most tourist destinations in China enjoy pleasant weather, with moderate temperatures and little rainfall during this time period, making it ideal for various travel activities. In recent years, as the May Day Holiday has been prolonged to 5 days or more and more people travel during the Chinese New Year Holiday, other “Golden Weeks” are formed. 

However, it’s worth noting that during these “Golden Weeks”, there is a dramatic increase in tourist numbers; hotel rooms and air tickets will definitely skyrocket; high-speed train tickets are in great demand. So, visiting China during the “Golden Weeks” is not a good idea.