Plan your China Tours to make the most of the Summer Festivals

With such an extensive and vibrant history to draw on, traditional Chinese festivals constitute an important and lively part of Chinese culture. They also make for an exciting and colourful time to visit this fascinating country, providing a real insight into Chinese beliefs and customs.

There are a wealth of Chinese festivals that take place throughout the year, and because the calendar is lunisolar, the dates vary slightly from year to year, so it is always worth checking with your China tours operator before you book. But no holiday to China would be complete without sampling one of these events, so what festivals can you look forward to this summer?

• The famous Dragon Boat Festival in June is a National Holiday, well loved by the Chinese people and the perfect addition to summer holidays to China. It commemorates the Chinese poet Chiu Yuan who lived around 300BC combined with the legend of the water dragon. Today the Dragon Boat Festival is an international event, celebrated with colourful dragon boat races and feasts of dim-sum and Zong-zi, which are delicious parcels of glutinous steamed rice and meat wrapped in bamboo leaves. Celebrated across the country, no summer China tours would be complete without witnessing this spectacle.
• You could also tailor your holiday to China to take in the stunning Guangzhou Lotus Flower Festival, held in June in Lotus Blossom Hill in Guangzhou’s Fanyu District. Here you can see the beauty of thousands of lotus flowers coming into bloom across a backdrop of waterways and lakes.
• In August, the Double Seventh Festival has been adopted as a Valentine’s Day in China. Celebrating the romantic tale of the Cowhand and Weaver Maid, it is observed across China with the giving of beautiful flowers and tokens of love. This festival could make a wonderful addition to your China tours, because it also celebrates the natural beauty of the country in the summertime.
• Children’s Day is celebrated in early June and is a National Holiday dedicated to children, featuring parades, face painting, games, singing and dancing.
• A relatively new summer festival and a glittering addition to your holidays in China is the Shanghai International Film Festival. Launched in 1993 it is now one of the largest and most prestigious film festivals in Asia and attracts many famous filmmakers from around the world to celebrate the booming Chinese film industry. With many exhibitions and screenings to take in, it is an exciting time to visit Shanghai and a must stop on your China tours.

There are many many more local summer festivals taking place across the country, such as the China Folklore Art Festival in Beijing, the Beihai Park Lantern Festival and the Yanjing Beer Festival. These can really enrich your holidays to China and leave unexpected and lasting memories. Your China tours operator can help you plan a bespoke journey through these cultural highlights and catch a glimpse of real Chinese life.