The Spring Festival is the most important celebration for Chinese people. Although the meaning and the methods of celebration of the Spring Festival are changing with the time, the important status of the Spring Festival is incomparable.
According to the traditional custom, the Spring Festival lasts from the 23rd day of 12th lunar month to the 15th day of 1st lunar month, and the climax should be the New Year Eve and the first day of first lunar month.
People carry out a lot of activities all over the country to welcome the Spring Festival. In the countryside, all the families clean their houses, wash their clothes and bed sheets. Fresh new clothes and sheets commemorate the fresh New Year! Special New Year purchases are also important parts of upcoming New Year. In the city, they celebrate the New Year with art teams performances, various entertainment parties, and the big parks hold “Temple Fairs” ,“Exhibition show of Flowers” ect. To provide recreation, food and art!
清明（Pure Brightness）最初是一个节气，早在周朝时便有了，一般在每年公历的4月5日左右，这时天气清澈，景物明晰，所以古人称之为清明（Clear and Bright）。清明对于古代农业生产而言，是一个重要的节气，天气渐暖，雨量增多，春耕春种（spring cultivation and sowing）正当时。很多农谚都与此有关。
说到清明，就不得不提一个古老节日寒食节（Cold Food Festival）。寒食节在冬至后105天，在清明节前与清明相连。所谓“寒食”，就是禁止生火，不能烧煮，只能吃事先准备好的冷食。
由于清明节和寒食节日期很接近，后来人们便经常把二者合一，清明节于是也吸收了寒食节的扫墓祭祖的传统，由农事节气演变为一个敬天法祖、慎终追远的节日了。而如今清明节踏青游玩的习俗则来自于古代的上巳节。
上巳节在农历三月初三。这一日，人们结伴去水边沐浴，称为“祓禊”，年轻的男女也可趁春光正好，出门游玩。杜甫《丽人行》所描述的：“三月三日天气新，长安水边多丽人”，描绘的正是这种场景。文人雅士还有祭祀宴饮、曲水流觞等风雅的习俗。
Shangsi Festival, also known as the Double Third Festival, is an ancient Chinese festival celebrated on the third day of the third lunar month.
On this day, people would hold a sacrificial ceremony by the riverside to honor their ancestors, then bathe in the river with herbs to cleanse and purify their bodies. Following that, young men and women would go for a spring outing.
随着时间的推移，寒食节、上巳节逐渐被淡化，而吸收了这两个节日精华的清明，则成为了一个将寒食祭祖与上巳踏青等活动相融合的重要传统节日，延续至今。清明也成为二十四节气中，唯一一个“升级”为节日的节气了。
The Dragon Boat Festival
The Dragon Boat Festival, also called the Duanwu Festival, is celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth month according to the Chinese calendar. For thousands of years, the festival has been marked by eating Zongzi (glutinous rice wrapped to form a pyramid using bamboo leaves) and racing dragon boats. The festival is best known for its dragon-boat races, especially in the southern provinces where there are many rivers and lakes. This regatta commemorates the death of Qu Yuan, an honest minister who is said to have committed suicide by drowning himself in a river.
The Double Ninth Festival, the ninth day of the ninth lunar month, is an occasion to express reverence to the aged for their achievements in the past and help them dispel their loneliness.
Statistics reveal that the number of people above the age of 65 was estimated at more than 100 million by the end of 2005. It is estimated that the number of people above the age of 65 will exceed 400 million by 2040. The first generation of single children has reached child bearing age and their parents will retire into the ranks of the aged in a decade or so and it will be impossible for single-child couples to take care of four aged parents.
The various activities held for the aged on this special festival should act to cultivate in the entire society an awareness of the effect that large aged population will have on the social security system and overall economic growth and social progress.
Mid-Autumn Festival
The Mid- Autumn Festival is on the 15th day of the 8th Junar month. It is an evening celebration when families gather together to light lanterns, eat moon cakes and appreciate the round moon. On that night, the moon appears to be at its roundest and brightest. The full moon is a symbol for family reunion, which is why that day is also known as the Festival of Reunion.
In mid-autumn, farmers have just finished gathering their crops and bringing in fruits in the orchards. They are overwhelmed with joy when they have a bumper harvest and at the same time, they feel quite relaxed after a year of hard work. So the 15th day of the eighth lunar month (the Mid-Autumn Festival) has gradually evolved as a widely celebrated festival for ordinary people.
