Taiwanese holidays

It usually falls in early April. Taiwanese people pray and tend to the graves of their departed relatives. Willow branches are used to decorate graves and doors in some areas, carrying of flowers, and burning of incense, paper and joss sticks is common.

• Dragon Boat Festival

• Tomb Sweeping Day

• Mid-Autumn Festival

It is celebrated from the first to the fifth day of the first month of the Chinese lunar calendar. Literally, Chinese people refer to this festival as “passing the year,” which means shooing out the old and welcoming the new; it is considered the most important Chinese holiday of the year.

• Mid-Autumn Festival

• The Lantern Festival

• Chinese New Year

It is closely related to the remembrance of Qu Yuan, a poet who lived during the Warring States Period. The most common customs are holding dragon boat races and eating glutinous rice dumplings called zongzi.

• Dragon Boat Festival

• Mid-Autumn Festival

• Tomb Sweeping Day

It is also known as the “little New Year.” Aside from the usual worship of the gods, the occasion involves guessing lantern riddles, eating rice-flour dumplings, and carrying hand lanterns. Colorful lanterns of all sizes and shapes have always been main attractions of this holiday.

• Chinese New Year

• The Lantern Festival

• Mid-Autumn Festival

It occurs during the autumn, when the harvest season is over. People in earlier days chose this day to make offerings and thank the gods for the bountiful harvest. The celebration has become a time for families to get together. Important activities include eating moon cakes, which symbolize unity and togetherness, and eating pomelos. The barbecuing is a recent custom in which families and friends get together and enjoy a meal.

• Tomb Sweeping Day

• Mid-Autumn Festival

• Dragon Boat Festival

A somber remembrance for the thousands of innocent lives lost during a brutal military crackdown by Chinese forces in 1947. The day is significant in the development of a distinct Taiwanese identity and their call for peace on this day recognizes the country’s tremendous loss. Each year, Taiwan observes this holiday through memorial services, concerts, ceremonies, and exhibitions.

• Peace Memorial Day

• Double Tenth Day

• Constitution Day

It is celebrating the start of the Wuchang uprising in 1911 that resulted in the defeat of the Qing Dynasty. Proceedings begin with the raising of the Republic of China flag and singing of the Republic of China national anthem. There is a Taiwanese presidential speech and celebrations include lion dances, drumming, and fireworks.

• Peace Memorial Day

• Double Tenth Day

• Constitution Day