Spring Festival: this festival is known around the world as Chinese New Year and occurs late in January or in February, depending on the lunar calendar. Official celebrations last for a couple of days, but in reality, the festivities continue for the better part of a month. There’s housecleaning to be done, travel back to one’s hometown to be arranged, debts to be settled, food to be prepared and gifts to be bought. Houses and buildings are decorated with signs in gold and red proclaiming best wishes for the New Year, large family feasts are held and the festive atmosphere is enhanced by noisemakers and firecrackers.

Jinling Lantern Festival:following the Chinese New Year celebrations, this festival typically occurs late in February or early in March. The festivities last for 10 days, with the illumination of the lanterns beginning on the first night. The Confucius Temple is the main venue for the event, and it becomes a colourful sea of lanterns. Many types of lanterns are sold by vendors at the temple. Streets of the city are also decked out with lanterns, making for a festive atmosphere throughout. Performances of traditional songs and dances are held at various times during the festival.

Qing Ming Festival: this event honours family ancestors and is a time when all members of the family visit the graves of the deceased. The area around the graves is cleaned and everyone in the family pays their respects to the departed, who are highly revered. Willow branches are used to sweep the graves, and the same type of branch is also displayed in doorways to ward off evil spirits.  

Dragon Boat Festival: held in the fifth lunar month, on the fifth day of that month, this commemorates the death of a royal scholar in the third century BC. Ch'u Yuan predicted future events that displeased the king, and when the events came to pass, Ch’u Yuan drowned himself. Local fishermen tried to rescue him and their wives used rice balls to divert fish from feeding on his flesh. Today, for the festival, special rice balls, or tsung, are made and thrown into the river as an offering to the royal scholar’s spirit. Dragon boat races are held, to the accompaniment of drums, dramatising the fishermen’s search for Ch’u Yuan.

Rain Flower Pebbles Art Festival:Yuhuashi is a type of agate that is found in a rain-flower pattern, and is a popular area souvenir. Every September an arts and culture festival is held at the Yuhuatai Scenic Area, during which precious agates are exhibited and musical performances are staged.  

Rebellion of October 1911: this is a commemoration of the date when a group of followers of Dr Sun Yat-sen were successful in the overthrow of the Manchu Dynasty in a bloodless coup. Although the coup was successful, they were unable to form a democratic government and instead, China turned to Marxism.

Christmas: twinkling lights appear at Christmas time, and you might well find them still in place several months later. There isn’t a large Christian population here, but the commercial and colourful aspects of Christmas have certainly caught on. For western visitors, the decorations and lights add a touch of Christmas in December, and for local residents, they often add a festive feel well into the New Year.