Most travelers pay more attentions to the weather of their destinations in China, such as winter to Harbin or Hainan Island, late spring to Li River, summer to most of China cities and autumn to Jiuzhaigou. However, to some other challengers or adventurers, they’d like to challenge themselves and experience the unique ethnic customs or the festivals to make their China tour special. Here are the monthly festivals in China to help make your tour in China much more unforgettable.
Harbin Ice and Snow Festival
January—Harbin Ice and Snow Festival starting from January 5 and lasting for over one month in Harbin, the capital of Heilongjiang province, which is famous for for its exquisite and artistic ice and snow sculptures. The Sun Island Park is where you can see the Snow Sculpture Exposition displaying a wonderful snow world; Ice and Snow World, however, is one of the world’s largest ice architecture parks where you can view the amazing frozen buildings; and the Zhaolin Park is somewhere shows the most excellent ice lanterns and a must-visit place during the festival.
Spring Festival of China
February—Spring Festival of China in 1st January in lunar calendar. During the Spring festival, you will see all kinds of festive scene in China including lion dancing, temple visiting, fireworks etc. All Chinese people celebrate this great festival in their own ways. And you can taste special Spring Festival food if you visit China during this period.
Gongcheng Peach Blossom Festival
March—Gongcheng Peach Blossom Festival in Guilin, where you can see the beautiful Peach Blossom all over the mountains and plains in front of you when you travel there. During the festival, you can also get the chance to taste the local oil tea there, which is a concoction of fried tea leaves, spices and puffed rice. As a symbol of life, growth and prosperity, the Peach Blossom will bring good luck to you all the year round.
Water Splashing Festival
April—Water Splashing Festival for the Dai minority people to celebrate their New Year in April 12-15, 2013 and signify good luck and health. Just have a trip to Xishuangbanna of Yunnan province at that time to enjoy the funny and meaningful water flight and water bathe with a water gun. So unimaginable!
Buddha Bathing Festival
May—Buddha Bathing Festival in the fourth day of April of lunar calendar in Dengfeng, the hometown of the Shaolin Temple. It is meant to honor the birth of Sakyamuni Buddha with the following activities: gather together all the monks in Shaolin Temple of Western Saints to put the figure of Buddha into a basin, bathe the figure with the scented water while singing sutra and then sprinkle water on monks to drive away the evil.
Dragon Boat Festival
June—Dragon Boat Festival in the fifth day of the May of the lunar calendar to remember the suicide of Qu Yuan, a famous Chinese poet. All cities in China celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival with astonishing boat design, especially in big cites with large lakes such as Qinglong and Houhai in Beijing, and you can taste the delicious traditional Chinese rice-pudding at that day.