Source: CCTV.com

04-17-2009 16:48

Traditionally, Chinese society has always used a lunar calendar (based on the phases of the moon). The biggest holidays celebrate the changing of the seasons, revealing China's ancient agrarian roots.

Because most major festivals are timed by the traditional calendar, the dates that they fall on according to the Western, solar, calendar vary from year to year. Some holidays, however, have come to be associated with the Western calendar and occur on the same predictable date.

Some holidays may be of little interest to non-Taiwanese. Unless you have an ancestor who died and was buried in Taiwan, for example, you probably won't find yourself directly participating in Tomb Sweeping Day. But many holidays are spectacular public events that can easily engage and fascinate visitors from abroad.

Though we won't cover all the many days of note in the year，here are some of the more interesting occasions you might want to observe:

(1) Chinese New Year

The biggest event on the Taiwanese calendar, like everywhere else in the Chinese world, is the New Year, which marks the beginning of spring. It is a festival of renewal, in preparation for which families clean their houses top to bottom and cook elaborate feasts. It is also very important to settle all personal debts before the end of the year.

On New Year's Eve, families gather together at home, eat heartily and let loose a lot of firecrackers. Children and elders receive gifts of money, in red envelopes called hungpao. A visit to a Taoist temple is sure to be a fascinating adventure, as crowds gather to pay homage to the gods. Temples dedicated to Kuan Kung are particularly active.

Much like Christmas, Chinese New Year is a family-oriented holiday, when homes are full of life and public places are boarded up tight. So the very best way to experience Chinese New Year is as a guest of a Chinese family.

(2) Lantern Festival

Two weeks after Chinese New Year, the New Year season officially ends, and its closure is celebrated with the Lantern Festival. In many ways, it is a more dazzling public holiday than New Year itself.Streets, temples and parks in all the cities are lit up with lights, lanterns and electrified floats. Everywhere you find lanterns, you'll find a sea of people - decidedly a crowd-lover's occasion.