Discover China

China has celebrated the Qingming Festival, when it’s traditional for people to pay tribute to their ancestors and the heroes who died serving their country.

In central China’s Henan Province holiday makers enjoyed some of these varied traditions at the 2012 Kaifeng Qingming Culture Festival. Kaifeng is closely linked to Qingming Festival, with the famous ancient painting “The Riverside Scene at the Qingming Festival” capturing life in the Northern Song capital of Bianjing, which is today’s Kaifeng.

In the Qingming River Garden, the bustling scene depicted on the scroll painting comes to life. There is also a model of the scene in the excellent Henan Museum in Zhengzhou which I visited on my trip to Beijing, Tianjin, and Zhengzhou in December 2010 – January 2011.

Tonight, on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month and the last day of the Spring Festival, is China’s traditional Lantern Festival. And the festive atmosphere is building right now, with lanterns and firecrackers lighting up the night skies in an incredible spectacle. The CNTV story Lanterns light up the night across China introduces the different ways in which the Lantern Festival is celebrated in different parts of the country.

China is globally famous for its tea culture. Chaozhou Kongfu tea, from Guangdong Province, is just one of the many different varieties produced and taken in China. To get the very best from a good cup of tea, everything must be right – the water, the heating, the tea leaves, the tea sets, the brewing, and even the way of drinking. The elegant Chaozhou tea ceremony is listed as a national intangible cultural heritage and reflects Chaozhou culture. To find out how you can taste this culture see the CNTV Culture Express story Chaozhou festival displays tea culture.

Jiuzhaigou, or “the Valley of Nine Villages,” in Sichuan Province has been a National Park for three decades. Tourists celebrate Jiuzhaigou for its dazzling lakes and mountains of stunning multi-colored foliage, but the heavenly expanse of wilderness is not deserted throughout the winter season. A new attraction has opened – the “Ice Waterfall Tourism Festival”. Waterfalls turn into elaborate ice sculptures as the mercury falls, and stunning trails wind into thickly forested hills. A photography exhibition and forum on tourism are also being held. Find out more in the CNTV Culture Express story Ice Waterfall Tourism Festival hails Jiuzhaigou.

The “Double Ninth Festival”, also known as the “Chongyang festival”, is a traditional Chinese festival which falls on the 9th day of the 9th month of the lunar calendar. It usually falls in October in the Gregorian calendar, this year on 16 October. In an ancient and mysterious book Yi Jing, or The Book of Changes, number “6″ was thought to be of Yin character, meaning feminine or negative, while 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.” In 1989, the Chinese government rededicated the Double Ninth Festival as Senior Citizens’ Day, making it an opportunity for people to show their appreciation to the elderly. To find out more see the CNTV Special Feature Double Ninth, Double Happiness and the China.org.cn Feature Traditional Chinese Festivals – Double Ninth Festival.