Chinese New Year: is one of the most enthusiastically celebrated festivals in the Chinese Lunar Calendar. The date varies every year but the festivities are the same with locals paying visits to friends and relatives to exchange gifts, firecrackers, traditional dragon dances and the preparation and consumption of traditional crescent moon-shaped dumplings known as Jiaozi. Guangzhou celebrates the New Year with as much enthusiasm as the rest of the country and offers a vibrant and exiting atmosphere that can be enjoyed by visitors and residents alike.

Lantern Festival: Also known as the Yuanxiao Festival, the Lantern Festival marks the end of the Chinese New Year period and sees citizens of Guangzhou hanging coloured lanterns in their thousands from houses, retail establishments and work places. At night, the lanterns are lit and the whole city is alight from these brightly coloured creations, giving the place a distinctly romantic ambience. Locals prepare and eat sticky rice dumplings called Yuanxiao on this day.

Qintong Boat Festival: held for two days during the first week of the month, this folklore-based festival sees fishing villages in nearby Qingtong launch boats onto the river and present traditional dragon and lion dances as well as theatrical performances and folk dances.

Qingming: sometimes called Chingming or the Tomb Sweeping Festival, this annual affair is a time for families to mourn the dead. Respect is paid to the souls and memories of deceased relatives by making the effort to clean graves and gives offerings of flowers, wine and food.

Dragon Boat Festival: China’s oldest and third most significant festival in its lunar calendar sees Guangzhou residents launch painted dragon boats on local waterways for a frantic and exciting race that is accompanied by the equally frantic sound of drummers in each boat, beating out rhythms for the rowers to follow in the hope that they will perform better.

Qi Qiao Jie: also known as Chinese Valentine’s Day, this is a day on which lovers pay tribute to the old folk legend of Niu Lang and Zhi Nu. The female citizens of Guangzhou make offerings of fruit and pray that they will one day be blessed with a happy marriage.

Mid Autumn Festival: held on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, the Mid Autumn Festival ranks among the most important festivals in the Chinese calendar. In Guangzhou, citizens celebrate by preparing and eating delicious moon-shaped cakes packed with fillings such as almond, walnut, coconut, sesame, egg yolk and lotus seeds.

The Double Ninth Festival: can be held in either October or November depending on the lunar calendar and sees Guangzhou residents take to the great outdoors to enjoy the cool autumn weather in a festival that celebrates the Chinese concept of Yin and Yang.

Christmas: While China is traditionally a Buddhist country, larger cities such as Guangzhou are beginning to adopt the western holiday traditions; decorations, Christmas songs, gift giving and festive entertainment are increasingly commonplace.