Chinese Lunar New Year is the most important of all the Chinese festivals and is the most frenetic happening in the country. It occurs on the 1st day of the 1st moon (January/February) with celebrations lasting three days. Firework displays, lion (or dragon) dances, parades and much more fill the streets with their gaiety and colour. This is also the time to shop for bargains as many shops hold sales with items being cut by 50% or more at times. One of the main horse racing events falls over Chinese New Year as well and this sport is certainly popular with locals and tourists alike. Many shops close for three days over the Chinese New Year.

Che Kung occurs on the second day of Chinese New Year. Che Kung was a Sung Dynasty general who is believed to have saved the inhabitants of Sha Tin Valley from the plague centuries ago and become an immortal and was elevated to a Taoist deity. Today gamblers worship him, as a ‘god’ and crowds now flock to his main temple, near the Hong Kong Jockey Club's Sha Tin Racecourse to wish him happy birthday.

The Spring Latern (Yuen Siu) Festival, also referred to as Chinese Valentine's Day, is held on the 15th day of Lunar New Year and marks the end of the Chinese New Year celebrations. Restaurants, temples and many homes are decorated with colourful lanterns. During the festival, singles gather to play matchmaking games with the lanterns, to determine who will be their lover. The festival is marked by special evening celebrations in Ko Shan Road Park in Kowloon.

The Ching Ming Festival is held on 5 April. On this day families visit the cemeteries to worship and clean their ancestors' graves to show their respect. "Remembrance of Ancestors Day", is a key holiday in the Chinese calendar and the tradition goes back thousands of years.

Birthday of Tin Hau takes place on the 23rd day of the 3rd moon (March/April). Tin Hau, is the Goddess of the Sea and has therefore a special place in Hong Kong's heart, due to the territory's maritime history. On this day fishermen decorate their boats and gather at her temples to pray for good catches during the coming year. In Yuen Long, in the New Territories, a parade takes place with colourful floats and lion dances.

Lord Buddha's birthday is celebrated on the 8th day of the 4th moon (April/May) and is of great importance within the Buddhist community. Worshippers show their devotion by bathing Buddha's statue. Celebrations centre round the major temples and monasteries in Hong Kong. Po Lin Monastery on Lantau Island, home to the world's largest, seated, outdoor bronze Buddha, is the hub of activity at this time. Enjoy sumptuous Chinese vegetarian dishes cooked by the monks at Po Lin Monastery; observe the ceremonies at Miu Fat Monastery in Tuen Mun, in the New Territories.

Birthday of Tam Kung is held on the 1st May. The second patron saint of the boat people his birthday festival is celebrated at the Tam Kung Temple in Shau Kei Wan on Hong Kong Island, which dates from 1905.

Tuen Ng Festival is better known under its more modern name the International Dragon Boat Festival. This 2,000 year-old festival is held on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. It is one of Hong Kong's most exciting festivals, featuring fierce dragon boat racing. The 11.6 m long boats have ornately carved "dragon" heads and tails and each carries a crew of 22 paddlers. Races are held all over Hong Kong and it's Islands however, the main International Races are held on Shing Mun River, at Sha Tin in the New Territories.

Birthday of Kwan Tai held in June honours this god of War who also serves as the patron god of the Hong Kong police and of gangsters too! He lived during the Three Kingdoms period (AD220-265) and was later deified as a Taoist symbol of integrity and loyalty. An ever-burning lamp stands before his statue in the colourful mid-19th-Century Man Mo Temple on Hong Kong Island's Hollywood Road.

The Queen's Birthday is held on June 12. The following Monday is also declared a public holiday.

Cheung Chau Bun Festival is held on Cheung Chau Island were huge bamboo towers are erected near the Pak Tai temple. The towers are studded with sweet buns and effigies of gods. The peak of the eight-day festival is a large procession were children dressed in colourful and historic costumes parade through the streets. Always held in May the actual date is chosen by divination.

The Dragon Boat Festival Races are held in May/June/July, on the Chinese Calendar’s fifth moon. The festival, also known as Tuen Ng Festival, commemorates the death of a popular Chinese national hero, Qu Yuan, who drowned himself in the Mi Lo River over 2,000 years ago to protest against the corrupt rulers. The real highlight of the festival is the fierce dragon boats racing in a lively, vibrant spectacle. Teams race the elaborately decorated dragon boats to the beat of heavy drums. The special boats, which measure more than 10 metres, have ornately carved and painted "dragon" heads and tails, and each carries a crew of 20-22 paddlers.

Maidens (Seven Sisters) Festival in August is a celebration for young lovers and girls! It dates back 1500 years to an ancient Chinese legend about the youngest of seven daughters of the Jade Emperor who was a weaving maid and led a lonely life. Her father, the Heavenly Emperor, felt sorry for her and allowed her to marry a cow-herdsman from across the Milky Way. Shortly after her marriage she neglected her weaving duties and the Emperor then ordered her to return home and visit her husband only once a year, on the seventh day of the seventh moon. During the festival young women offer fruit and burn joss sticks and incense in the open air or at Lover's Rock on Bowen Road in Wan Chai, where they can scan the night skies for the two stars that represent the cowherd and the weaver maid and pray for a good husband.

Hungry Ghosts Festival held in August is when it is said that ghosts are set free from the underworld roam the world every year for a lunar month. During this festival you can see small roadside fires, where believers burn paper money and offer food to appease the restless spirits. Local celebrations feature Chinese operas as well.

Mid-Autumn Festival held anytime from late August to early September, this is another very important date in the Chinese calendar and is celebrated throughout the Territories by families gathering in public parks in open spaces with beautifully decorated lanterns, in a variety of shapes, ablaze with light and colour. Victoria Peak is a popular venue on this night. The celebrations revolve around the story of an uprising against the Mongols, when rebels smuggled instructions to their compatriots by hiding them in cakes. Today, special 'Moon Cakes' are eaten during the festivities.

Monkey God Festival occurs in September, which according to this ancient story, like all monkeys, is mischievous. This arrogant and troublesome deity first appeared in Pilgrims to the West and is depicted in a novel dating from the Ming Dynasty (AD1368-1644) and has in more recent times become a popular TV. An outcast from Taoist heaven, the Monkey god redeemed himself and gained Buddhist immortality, by escorting Tang Gan Zang on his pilgrimage to the West to obtain the teachings of Lord Buddha. At his shantytown temple in Kowloon's Sau Mau Ping area, a possessed medium recreates the ordeals by fire and stabbing, which the Monkey god suffered during unsuccessful attempts of the other gods to execute him. The medium, remaining unharmed, runs barefoot over blazing charcoal and climbs a ladder of knives.

Mid Autumn (Moon) Festival held in October is another important festival and can be one of the loveliest nights of the year. The festival is in memory of a 14th-Century uprising against the Mongols when rebels wrote the call to revolt on pieces of paper and embedded them in cakes that they then smuggled to compatriots. Today, during the festival, people eat special sweet cakes known as "Moon Cakes" made of ground lotus and sesame. Public parks such as Victoria Park are ablaze with many thousands of lanterns in all colours and sizes and shapes.

The Cheun Yeung Festival occurring on the 9th day of the 9th moon (September/October) is another important date for local families and originates from the Han Dynasty (202BC - AD220). During the festival, many people visit the graves of family members worshiping and cleaning their ancestors' graves to show their respect. Today, many Hong Kong families head to the hills to picnic during the Chung Yeung Festival.

Winter Solstice / Dong Zhi is the second most important festival of the Chinese calendar. Celebrated on the longest night of the year, Dong Zhi is the day when sunshine is weakest and daylight shortest. Dong Zhi is celebrated in style. The longest night of the year is a time for optimism, to put on brand new clothes, visit family with gifts and to laugh and drink deep into the long night.

For up to date information about current festivals and events check out our festival listings page in the Tangent travel magazine.