Official Information】Calendar of Holidays and National Holidays in China and Taiwan in 2023｜Chinese New Year, National Day, Ching Ming Festival, Labour Day Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival

The calendar below shows the public holidays in 2023 announced by the Chinese government (State Council) and the Taiwanese government (Executive Yuan).

Although they are part of the same Greater China region, holidays in China and Taiwan are slightly different. Business people should be especially careful.

Unlike Japan, China and Taiwan celebrate national holidays and annual events according to the old calendar. This old calendar is calledLunar calendar.orAgricultural History.It is called When written in English, it is calledChinese CalenderIt is.

Holidays in China and Taiwan

Chinese National Holidays in 2023

• New Year's Day: Saturday, December 31 - Monday, January 2 / 3 days in total
• 春節：1月21日(土)～1月27日(金)／計7日間
• Qing Ming Festival: April 5 (Wed.) / 1 day in total
• Labor Day: May 1 (Mon.) - May 5 (Fri.) / 5 days in total
• Dragon Boat Festival: June 22 (Thu) - June 24 (Sat) / 3 days in total
• Mid-Autumn Festival & National Day: September 29 (Fri.) - October 6 (Fri.) / 8 days in total

National Holidays in Taiwan in 2023

• Republic of China Opening Day: December 31 (Sat.) - January 2 (Mon.) / 3 days in total
• Chinese New Year: Jan. 20 (Fri.) - Jan. 29 (Sun.) / 10 days in total
• Peace Memorial Day: February 25 (Sat.) - February 28 (Tue.) / 4 days in total
• Children's Festival & Tomb-Sweeping Festival: April 1 (Sat.) - April 5 (Wed.) / 5 days in total
• Labor Day: April 29 (Sat.) - May 1 (Mon.) / 3 days in total
• Dragon Boat Festival: June 22 (Thu) - June 25 (Sun) / 4 days in total
• Mid-Autumn Festival: September 29 (Fri.) - October 1 (Sun.) / 3 days in total
• National Day: Oct. 7 (Sat.) - Oct. 10 (Tue.) / 4 days in total

2022 Calendar of Holidays and National Holidays in China and Taiwan

■Redis a Chinese national holiday■Blueis TaiwanNational Holidays of

Holiday details (origin, etc.)

New Year's Day (yuán dàn)

In English."New year's holiday" he says.

In China and Taiwan, New Year's Day, January 1, is not the New Year. Therefore, they do not have large consecutive holidays as in Japan.

incidentally"yuán".is the "beginning," and"Dàn."means "morning.

Also in Taiwan, on January 1, 1912.Sun Yat-sen in NanjingIt is called "Opening of the Nation Day" instead of "New Year's Day" because the founding of the Republic of China was proclaimed on

While China adopts the western calendar for its daily life, Taiwan has its own calendar similar to Japan's, called "Min Kuo XX year". Incidentally, the year 1912, when the Republic of China was established, is the first year of the Republic of China, and 2022 is the 111th year of the Republic of China.

Spring Festival (chūn jié)

In English."Lunar New Year", "Chinese New Year", "Spring Festival".He says.

For the Chinese, the "Spring Festival" is the real New Year. It is also called "Lunar New Year," meaning New Year in the old calendar.

January 1 on the lunar calendar is the new moon (Sakujitsu) just before Usui, one of the 24 solar terms, and changes every year.

During the Spring Festival, China experiences a major ethnic migration called Chunyun (Spring Luck).

Logistics companies will also be closed, which is important for business people to be aware of.

Also, for Chinese New Year 2022, the holidays are staggered by one day between China and Taiwan.

Qingming Festival (qīng míng jié)

In English."Tomb-sweeping Day", "Qingming Festival".He says.

Tomb Sweeping festival" means "the day of grave sweeping.

Qing Ming Festival is one of the four major traditional holidays in China.

On Seimei, the 15th day after the vernal equinox, one of the 24 solar terms, families go to visit the graves of their ancestors, just as they do on the equinox and Obon holidays in Japan.

By the way, in Taiwan, Qing Ming Festival is calledSweeping Tomb Day (sǎo mù jié)Call it "Grave Sweeping Day."

Labor Day (laó dòng jié)

In English."Labor Day."He says.

Labor Day in China was established in 1949 by the National Holidays and Memorial Day Holidays Measures.

Unlike China, Taiwan's Labor Day is usually celebrated only on May 1.

Dragon Boat Festival (duān wǔ jié)

In English."Dragon Boat Festival", "Duanwu Festival", "Double Fifth".He says.

It is one of the four major traditional Chinese holidays and has been a legal holiday in China since 2008.

In China, people eat zongzi (dumplings) on the Dragon Boat Festival, which is said to be an act of mourning for a man named Kuzugen.

Kukwon was a patriotic politician and poet during the Warring States period in China. However, because of his excellence, he was envied by those around him and was set up and disgraced.

Later, when he heard that the capital of his homeland, Chuxu, had fallen to the Qin Dynasty, he despaired of his country's future and committed suicide by drowning himself in the Bula River, a tributary of the Yangtze River, with a stone in his arms. The day of his death was May 5 of the lunar calendar, which falls on the current Dragon Boat Festival.

It is said that people began to eat zongzi (dumplings wrapped in bamboo leaves and thrown into the river to appease the regret of Kusuhara, who committed suicide by entering the water, and to prevent fish from eating his corpse.

Dragon boat races are also sometimes held during the Dragon Boat Festival. Some people believe that this also means that fishermen row their boats to go save Kusuhara.

By the way, the Dragon Boat Festival."end duān" means a beginning or starting point.Kaiji kāi duān,"noon wǔ" means the month of May in the lunar calendar (called agricultural history in China).

In ancient China, each month was represented by the twelve signs of the Chinese zodiac: tiger (January), rabbit (February), dragon (March), snake (April), andNoon (May)The first month of the year was the first month of the year for the Chinese New Year (June), the second month of the year for the Chinese New Year (July), the third month of the year for the rooster (August), the fourth month of the year for the dog (September), the fifth month of the year for the boar (October), the fifth month of the year for the cub (November), and the fifth month of the year for the ox (December).

In the Chinese zodiac calendar, spring is from the tiger (January) to the rabbit (February) to the dragon (March), and from the snake (April) to the dragon (April).Noon (May)-Summer is in June, Autumn is in July, and Winter is in October, and Winter is in December.

The lunar calendar's noon month (May) falls in the middle of summer and is the hottest month of the year, when the sun is at its hottest and people are prone to heat exhaustion.

In ancient China, theMay 5It is said that this is the true origin of Dragon Boat Festival.

Mid-Autumn Festival (zhōng qiū jié)

In English."Mid Autumn Festival", "Moon Festival".He says.

It is a Chinese custom to celebrate the famous moon on August 15 of the lunar (agricultural) calendar every year. It is one of the four major traditional festivals in China, and moon cakes and fruits are eaten.

It may also be written as "Nakatsuki Tsuki" (仲秋月).

National Day (guó qìng jié)

In English."National Day".He says.

It is the National Foundation Day in Japan.

China's National Day is October 1, 1949, when President Mao Zedong proclaimed the establishment of the Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China at Tiananmen Square in Beijing.

During National Day, a large military parade is held in the capital Beijing.

Some Japanese sometimes misunderstand that National Day in Taiwan is October 10, the day the Xinhai Revolution broke out, which is different from that in China.

The Xinhai Revolution was a revolution led by Sun Yat-sen and others that overthrew the Qing Dynasty in 1911 and established the Republic of China in 1912 with Sun Yat-sen as provisional president.

Taiwan Peace Day (hé píng jì niàn rì)

Taiwan's own holiday, Peace Memorial Day is also known as "228th Anniversary.

Incident 228 was a civil war that occurred in Taiwan.

Dissatisfied with the way the Chinese Nationalist government had replaced the Japanese army that had ruled Taiwan after World War II, Taiwanese people staged a large-scale uprising on February 28, resulting in numerous casualties throughout Taiwan.

A 20-minute walk from the Taipei City train station will take you to the Taipei 228 Memorial Hall.

You can learn how the people were tossed about during the transition from Japanese rule to KMT rule.