Chinese Festival Greetings: Mid-Autumn, Dragon Boat

For the Mid-Autumn Festival say 中秋節快樂 (Zhōngqiū Jié kuàilè). For Dragon Boat say 端午節快樂 (Duānwǔ Jié kuàilè), or 端午安康 for a more formal wish. The pattern is festival name plus 快樂, with one exception: Tomb Sweeping Day is solemn, so you do not say 快樂 for it. New Year has its own guide, Chinese New Year Greetings and Red Envelopes in Taiwan. This page covers the other festivals and what people in Taiwan actually do on them.

The pattern

Festival	Date (lunar)	Greeting	Pinyin
Mid-Autumn 中秋節	15th day of 8th month	中秋節快樂	Zhōngqiū Jié kuàilè
Dragon Boat 端午節	5th day of 5th month	端午節快樂 / 端午安康	Duānwǔ Jié kuàilè / Duānwǔ ānkāng
Lantern 元宵節	15th day of 1st month	元宵節快樂	Yuánxiāo Jié kuàilè
Tomb Sweeping 清明節	around April 4 to 6	no standard greeting

中秋節 falls on the fifteenth of the eighth lunar month, 端午 on the fifth of the fifth lunar month, 元宵節 on the fifteenth of the first lunar month, and 清明節 on one day from April 4 to 6. Because the lunar dates move against the Gregorian calendar, check the year’s date in the holidays guide.

快樂 (kuàilè) means happy, as in 新年快樂 and 生日快樂. 愉快 (yúkuài, pleased) is slightly more formal: 中秋愉快 and 佳節愉快 (jiājié yúkuài, “happy festival”, where 佳節 means a fine festival) appear in cards and work messages.

Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋節)

Greetings

• 中秋節快樂。 Zhōngqiū Jié kuàilè. The standard form.
• 中秋快樂。 Zhōngqiū kuàilè. The short form, common in messages.
• 祝你中秋節快樂，闔家團圓。 Zhù nǐ Zhōngqiū Jié kuàilè, hé jiā tuányuán. Wishing you a happy Mid-Autumn, with your whole family together. 闔家 is the polite term for another person’s whole family.
• 花好月圓。 Huā hǎo yuè yuán. “Flowers in bloom, moon full.” Mainly a wedding wish, sometimes borrowed for Mid-Autumn cards because of the full moon.

A simple reply: 也祝你中秋節快樂 (Yě zhù nǐ Zhōngqiū Jié kuàilè), “same to you”.

What Taiwanese do

Typical Mid-Autumn activities in Taiwan:

• 烤肉 (kǎoròu, barbecue). Many families, groups of friends and neighbours barbecue outside on the evening of the festival. The holiday guide mentions the often-told story that the habit grew from an advertising campaign in the 1980s. The origin is debated, and barbecue is the typical activity today.
• 月餅 (yuèbǐng, mooncakes), filled pastries that are the seasonal food of the festival. Boxes are given to colleagues, teachers, clients and relatives, which is why they appear in shops weeks beforehand.
• 賞月 (shǎng yuè), looking at the moon.
• 文旦 (wéndàn), a pomelo variety widely grown in Taiwan, is the fruit Taiwanese commonly eat at this time. 柚子 (yòuzi) is the general word for pomelo, and you will see both in markets.
• The story of 嫦娥 (Cháng’é), the woman who went to the moon. She is the wife of Hou Yi (后羿).

The festival is a day for the whole family to come together, eat mooncakes and enjoy the moon. How people spend the evening varies from family to family.

If you are invited, bring something small to share, such as fruit or drinks. And if someone gives you a box of mooncakes, a thank-you and a greeting are enough.

Dragon Boat Festival (端午節)

Greetings

• 端午節快樂。 Duānwǔ Jié kuàilè.
• 端午安康。 Duānwǔ ānkāng. 安康 (ānkāng) means peace and health. It is a polite, slightly formal wish used in cards and messages.

What Taiwanese do

• 粽子 (zòngzi, rice dumplings), glutinous rice wrapped in bamboo or reed leaves, with flavours such as 肉粽 (ròuzòng, meat), 鹼粽 (jiǎnzòng, alkaline) and 豆沙粽 (dòushāzòng, red bean paste). Regional styles differ, and families often have strong opinions about which kind is right.
• 龍舟 (lóngzhōu, dragon boats). Races are held in several cities, as the holiday guide notes.
• The story of 屈原 (Qū Yuán). According to tradition, the official Qu Yuan of the state of Chu threw himself into the 汨羅江 (Mìluó Jiāng) on the fifth day of the fifth month, and eating zòngzi and dragon boat races come from remembering him.

Dragon Boat is a day off in Taiwan. As with other lunar-calendar days, the date changes each year.

Lantern Festival (元宵節)

元宵節 falls on the night of the fifteenth of the first lunar month, the first full moon of the year, and it closes the New Year season.

• Greeting: 元宵節快樂。 Yuánxiāo Jié kuàilè.
• 湯圓 (tāngyuán), glutinous rice balls, with or without filling, are the food of the day.
• 燈會 (dēnghuì), lantern gatherings, often with dragon and lion dances. Many Taiwanese cities hold lantern events around this time.
• 燈籠 (dēnglóng), lanterns, which people carry or hang.

Tomb Sweeping Day (清明節)

清明節 (Qīngmíng Jié) is the day families visit graves. It falls on April 4, 5 or 6. The activities are 掃墓 (sǎomù, sweeping graves) and 祭祖 (jìzǔ, honouring ancestors). It is a solemn day, with a day off work and school.

What to say:

• Do not say 清明節快樂. It sounds wrong because the day is about remembering the dead.
• To someone you know who is going to a family grave, you can say 路上小心 (lùshàng xiǎoxīn, take care on the way). Between most people nothing needs to be said.
• 慎終追遠 (shèn zhōng zhuī yuǎn), carefully attending to a parent’s funeral and remembering the distant dead, is a phrase often used in the context of this day and appears in written remarks.

Other festivals worth knowing

• 七夕 (Qīxì), the seventh night of the seventh lunar month, regarded as a lovers’ day, based on the legend of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl.
• 重陽 (Chóngyáng), the ninth day of the ninth lunar month.
• 冬至 (dōngzhì), the winter solstice, one of the 24 solar terms.
• 鬼月 (guǐyuè), the seventh lunar month, covered in Ghost Month in Taiwan. It is not a festival to greet people on.

A short list to learn

1. 中秋節快樂 (Zhōngqiū Jié kuàilè)
2. 端午節快樂 (Duānwǔ Jié kuàilè)
3. 元宵節快樂 (Yuánxiāo Jié kuàilè)
4. 也祝你節日快樂 (yě zhù nǐ jiérì kuàilè), “and the same to you”

Related reading

• Chinese New Year Greetings and Red Envelopes in Taiwan
• Taiwan Public Holidays for Language Students
• Ghost Month in Taiwan for Language Students