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Traditions & Celebrations for Mainland China & Hong Kong

 

Hong Kong

Ching Ming Festival
Good Friday, Easter
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Establishment Day (July 1st)
Mid-Autumn Festival
Dragon Boat Festival
National Day
Chung Yeung Festival ( for elderly)
Christmas
New year’s Day (1/1)
Chinese New year
Valentine’s Day (Feb. 14th)

 

Mainland China

New Year’s Day (Jan 1st)
Chinese New year (Jan 1st of lunar calendar)
Lantern festival ( Jan 15th of the lunar calendar)
Valentine’s Day (2/14) (Younger generation celebrate it)
Qing Ming Festival ( visiting the cemetery )
Dragon Boat Festival
Double seventh Festival which is the Chinese Valentine’s day (July 7th of Lunar Calendar)
Mid- autumn festival ( eat moon cake),lunar calendar
Double Ninth festival = Chongyang Festival ( for elderly), lunar calendar
Halloweens(only younger generation celebrate it)
Christmas (only younger generation celebrate it)

Customs for births, weddings, deaths and other special occasions - Hong Kong

Baby receives “longevity locks” at birth. The locks are made of silver, and are meant to “lock your life” and keep you away from death. For weddings, there are two variations - eastern and western. The eastern ceremony will consist of a Chinese tea ceremony and the western will be held in a church and then typically followed by the reception in a restaurant of hotel. Deaths depend on the individual's personal beliefs -if the individual is Christian then a fineral will be held at a church - if the individual us Buddhism then a temple's service will be given.

 

Customs for births, weddings, deaths and other special occasions - Mainland China

Zuo yue zi: one month of rest after given birth. The “man yue” (one month after birth) of the baby is celebrated. For births, people traditionally used to give out red eggs to friends if they had a boy. However, that has changed nowm and people now typically give out candies or chocolates for births of both boys or girls. For weddings, the groom should pick up the bride from the bride’s parents’ house and go to dinner which will usually be in a hotel. All the families, friends and coworkers are usually invited. Guests need to bring “red pocket” (with money inside) to the dinner as their best wish for the marriage. For deaths, friends, families and coworkers will be invited to the Crematory, and they usually bring flowers to put around the coffin to show their respect and say goodbye to the loved one. Depending on the sex of the dead, a band is worn on different arms. White Chrysanthemum is the flower used at funerals. People also burn paper money, believing that their dead relative will receive the money and will not starve in hell and come back to haunt them.