holidays

Mid-Autumn Festival (Zhongqiu Jie) Explained

Dating back all the way to moon-worship in the Shang Dynasty 3,000 years ago, Mid-Autumn Festival is a harvest festival that takes places on the 15th day of the 8th month in the Chinese lunar calendar (usually late September or early October).

Sometimes called Moon Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival is one of China's biggest holidays, and is next to only Spring Festival in its importance for families to come together and celebrate.

Basics of the Chinese Zodiac

The Chinese Zodiac, or in Chinese shēngxiào, relates each year in a 12-year cycle to an animal and somewhat anthropomorphic attributes connected to that animal.

Dragon Boat Festival (Duanwu Jie) Explained

Dragon Boat Festival is one of the oldest holidays in China, said to date back nearly 2,500 years to the Warring States Period.

It is held the fifth day of the fifth month each lunar year, and has several possible origins. By far the most popular tale is that of Qu Yuan.

Chinese Halloween Vocab

It's that spooky time of year, and though not a much-celebrated holiday in China, why not expand your Chinese vocabulary to include these wicked words.

This simple Halloween language primer will have you howling out Halloween lingo in Chinese faster than deciding whether Chinese is a trick or a treat.