Festivals Celebrated in Hefei, China

Festivals and customs in Hefei are almost the same with traditional Chinese festivals and customs. Spring Festival, Lantern Festival in January 15 on the lunar calendar, Tomb Sweeping Day, Dragon Boast Festival on the 5th day of the fifth month in Chinese lunar calendar, Mid-Autumn Festival on August 15 in the lunar calendar and Double Nine Festival on the ninth day of the ninth of Chinese lunar month will all be celebrated in Hefei.

NEW YEAR 
Temple fairs are an important and traditional part of the Chinese New Yea celebrations. Every year, temple fairs take place across the country, becoming a lively gathering point for locals and an interesting insight in Chinese culture for foreigners. At these temples, there are usually a number of traditional performances and a food street. 

LANTERN FESTIVAL
Around the antern Festival, many communities of Hefei city have organised various activites of apporeaciating lanterns and solving lantern riddles. Over a thousand palace lanterns are hung up in Shuhong New Village of Baohe district, and besides Shangpai Road and Tongcheng Road.On the night of the Lantern Festival, the residents can stroll in the streets, and guess lantern riddles.Those who have solved the riddles can win prizes.

One place to celebrate the Lantern Festival is in Hefei, Happy Island. The lantern Festival is the last day of "Hefei Greeting Spring Festival large-scale Lantern Fair" at Happy Island. There are eight exhibition areas, 80 sets of lanterns of different styles, and 1000 strings of twinkling star lanterns and more than 8000 coloured lanterns. The highlight of the lantern shoow is China's First Coloured Lantern of Giant Dragon which is 318 meters long and 8.5 meters high, made by a lantern expert from Zigong, Sichuan province. It has applied for Guiness World Record. When it is lit up, over 200 000 coloured lanterns on the dragon illuminate at the same time. The scales of the dragon are made of 200 000 waste CDs, and they give out colourful radiance in the light of the coloured lanterns. Besides appreciating lanterns, there are also activities such as tasting delicacies, solving lantern riddles, and receiving red envelopes.  

DUANWU FESTIVAL  
The Dragon Boat 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 glutinous rice or zongzi and racing dragon boats.


DOUBLE NINTH FESTIVAL
Double Ninth Festival: The 9th day of the 9th lunar month is the traditional Chongyang Festival, or Double Nine Festival. In an ancient and mysterious book Yi Jing, or The Book of Changes, the number "6" was thought to be of Yin character, meaning feminine or negative, while the number "9" was thought to be Yang, meaning masculine or positive. So the number nine in both month and day create the Double Ninth Festival, or Chongyang Festival. Chong in Chinese means "double". Also, as double ninth was pronounced the same as the word to signify "forever", both are "Jiu Jiu", the Chinese ancestors considered it an auspicious day worth celebrating. That was why the ancient Chinese began to celebrate this festival a long time ago. 

The custom of ascending a height to avoid epidemics was passed down from long ago. he height the people will reach is usually a mountain or a tower. Even today, people still swarm to famous or little known mountains on this day. The Chinese will eat the Double Ninth Cake, because the chinese term for "cake", has the same pronunciation with "height" in Chinese. People do so just to hope for progress in everything that they are engaged in. 

The Double Ninth Festival is also a time when chrysanthemum blooms. China boasts diversified species of chrysanthemum and people have loved them since ancient times. So enjoying the flourishing chrysanthemum also becomes a key activity on this festival. Also, people willdrink chrysanthemum wine. Women used to stick such a flower into their hair or hang its branches on windows or doors to avoid evilness. In 1989, the chinese government decided the Double Ninth Festival as Seniors' Day. Since then, all government units, organisations and streets communities will organise an autumn trip each year for those who have retires from their posts. At the waterside or on the mountains, the seniors will find themselves merged into nature. Younger generations will bring elder ones to suburban areas or send gifts to them to this day.