April 25 and October 4

Mazu Festival--This festival centers around the worship of Mazu, the Goddess of the Sea. About 100 million people in the world are worshippers of Mazu, who saves the life of people at sea. The festival is held at the goddess' hometown in Fujian Province and draws thousands of tourists, especially people from Taiwan, Hong Kong and other Southeastern Asian countries. Venue: Meizhou, Fujian Province.

Late April

Longhua Temple Fair--A cultural event throughout April at the Longhua Temple in Shanghai. The fair features visiting markets, tasting local snacks, watching small-scale cultural performances and trade activities. Venue: Shanghai.

Late April

Heze Peony Show--This show offers tourists the opportunity to view millions of peonies. Heze County in Shandong Province, which boasts 67 hectares of peonies, becomes an attractive sightseeing site between late April and mid-May when it turns into an ocean of peony flowers.

April 30

Flower Drum Lantern Show--The show presents Han-nationality folk songs and dances-some over 4,000 years old and known as the oriental ballet. Venue: Huainan and Bengbu, Anhui Province.

May 10

Horse-Riding Mountain Fair--Held in Mid-May, this is a traditional celebration for local Tibetan people in Kangding, Sichuan Province. Besides sightseeing, other activities include picnics, song-and-dance shows, horse-racing and trading. Venue: Kangding, Sichuan Province.

Early May

Opening Ceremony of the Hangzhou West Lake Cultural Village-Exhibition of southern Chinese style potted landscapes, demonstrations of folk arts, visits to ancient-style streets, and sampling of local specialties. Venue: Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province.

May 13

Scholar Tree Festival--An opportunity to admire flowers on the scholar trees, enjoy cultural performances and sports, cultural exchanges, seafood barbecues, and a huaihua (scholar-tree blossom) banquet. Venue: Dalian, Liaoning Province.

May 16-20

Anguo International Herbal Medicine Festival--Highlights of this festival include visits to North China's largest herbal medicine market, trading, visits to the King of Herbs Temple and pharmaceutical factory, and tasting of medicinal cuisine. Venue: Baoding, Hebei Province.

May to October

Food Festival--This mouth-watering festival is all about sampling various Chinese cuisine and snacks, cooking competitions and cultural performances. Master chefs of various Chinese cuisine are flown into each of the following cities to make sure tourists can taste all major Chinese cuisine. This festival is a learning experience for the chefs as well as the gourmets. Venue: Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Guilin, Chengdu.

May

Shanghai Art Festival--One of China's biggest cultural events in the country's largest industrial city. A series of cultural performances of nationally and internationally famous operas, music and dance as well as international acrobatic contests are featured. Venue: Shanghai.

Late May

Chinese Rose Festival--A series of activities on the theme of the Chinese rose, including a large-scale flower exhibition, the Magpie Bridge Flower Fair, a rose contest and a kite competition.

June 3

Jiaojiang International Fishing Festival--A time to angle for saltwater fish, sample seafood and watch folk-art performances. Venue: Jiaojiang, Zhejiang Province.

June 6

Miluo River International Dragon Boat Festival--A time to celebrate with traditional dragon-boat racing, folk-art performances, and arts and crafts shopping. The festival is in memory of China's ancient political and literary giant, Qu Yuan, who drowned himself in the Miluo River in protest against foreign aggression. Venue: Miluo, Hunan Province.

June 5

Water-Drinking Festival--A special festival for the people of Wudalianchi City, who have long believed in the medical effects of the local mineral water. Local residents gather at springs to drink mineral water, bathe in mineral water and watch artistic performances. For many visitors, it is a rare scene. Venue: Wudalianchi, Heilongjiang Province.

June

Corban-Muslims observe Corban in June. In Xinjiang's Kashigar area, 100,000 Muslims take part in this grand religious ceremony. Tourists can enjoy local folk songs and dance performances and buy special local products in the bazaars. Activities also include Muslim worship, 10��000 people dancing the senam, and visits to local families. Venue: Kashigar, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, and Yinchuan, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.

June

Three Gorges Art Festival--Enjoy the early summer in China with dragon-boat racing, trade talks, and trips through the Yangtze River, Three Gorges and Shennong Stream. Venue: Yichang, Hubei Province.

June 23-30

Qingdao International Beer Festival--More than 30 Chinese and foreign breweries participate in this festival in the coastal city's Zhong-shan Park. A grand ceremony features a grand procession of floats and bands. Tourism activities also include appraising beer, beer exhibitions, drinking competitions, artistic performances and trade talks. Venue: Qingdao, Shandong Province.

June-July

Litchi Festival--Tourists can attend litchi-tasting parties and sales exhibitions, trade talks, fashion shows, artistic performances, horsemanship shows and tugs-of-war on the water. Venue: Shenzhen, Guangdong Province.

End of June

Hangzhou Silk Cultural Festival--Hangzhou is one of the most important silk-producing centers in China for both quantity and quality. The festival will feature seminars on silk culture, the ribbon-cutting of a new silk museum and silk garment shows. Venue: Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province.

July

Great Wall and Nature Travel Month--Promotion of trekking, cycling or motoring along the Great Wall between the Shanhaiguan and Badaling, the Beijing section, which is a favorite with tourists. Shanhaiguan is the beginning of the ancient Great Wall of China while the other end is located at Jiayuguan Pass in Gansu Province in Northwest China. Venue: Shanhaiguan to Badaling.

July 3-9

Sixth-Lunar--Month Art Week-This week-long event features antiphonal singing of hua'er (ballads) of the Tu, Hui, Sala, Tibetan and Han nationalities. You can also enjoy folk sports from Qinghai, where many ethnic minorities live, and the local culture architecture and lifestyles. Venue: Xining, Qinghai Province.

July 12-18

Mt Jinggang Trade Fair and Travel Week--The week will include trade talks, exhibition of local products, photographs of Mt Jinggang, visits to scenic areas. Mt Jinggang is the birthplace of the modern Chinese revolution and is now a popular tourist attraction. Venue: Mt Jinggang, Jiangxi Province.

July

Garment Festival--This is the annual cultural and tourist highlight in the coastal city of Dalian. Each year, fashion designers from many countries will bring their latest pieces to display at the festival. Costume exhibitions, fashion shows, dress designing competitions, cultural shows and cruise parties are held during the festival.July

International Gliding Festival--An exhilarating show of gliders, towed gliding, slope gliding, sport plane flying and hot-air ballooning, and adventurous programs for overseas tourists at one of the most important ancient war passes on the Silk Road. Jiayuguan is also known for being the end of the ancient Great Wall of China. Venue: Jiayuguan, Gansu Province.

July 24-27

Dragon Boat Festival--The festival features rowing dragon boats, exchanging gifts among ethnic youth, releasing pigeons, and antiphonal singing between young men and women. Venue: Taijiang, Guizhou Province.

July-August

Mt Wutai International Travel Month--Mt Wutai is one of the most famous sacred sites of Buddhism in China. It is an ideal summer resort and boasts a group of ancient temples that offer Buddhist activities and tours of the surrounding mountain areas and monasteries. Venue: Mt Wutai, Shanxi Province.

August

Longyan Festival--Zhangzhou is famous for its longyan, a small juicy fruit similar to the litchi, and this festival offers tourists the best and freshest ones. A longyan trade fair will also be held during the festival. Venue: Zhangzhou, Fujian Province.August

Beijing International Beer Festival--A summer fun-and-drink session with the participation of world-renowned breweries. You can sample quality beer, get involved in drinking competitions and various artistic performances. Venue: Beijing.

August

Peninsula Summer--Liaoning International Culture and Art Festival. A 10��000-person gala for local citizens and visitors from foreign sister-cities, which includes culture, art and science exchanges, trade talks, ball games, chess and climbing contests and sightseeing. Venue: Shen-yang, Liaoning Province.

August

Seventh-Month Buddhist Festival at Labrang Lamasery and Langshan--This festival includes religious and folk-custom activities, including reciting and debating Buddhist scriptures, horse-riding and evening parties on the grassland. The Labrang Lamasery is one of the six Lama temples in China and now has about 600 lamas working and studying there. Venue: Gansu Province.

August 2-4

Torch Festival--The festival focus on torch-burning ceremonies, which are believed to drive away evil and ensure happiness and prosperity. The Yi, Bai and Naxi nationalities celebrate the festival on the 24th day of the sixth lunar month each year. Drinking, wrestling, bull-fighting, horse-racing and archery competitions are held during the day. As night falls, people light torches and parade along mountain trails and village roads. Tourists can join the torch-lighting and the parade, singing and dancing to ethnic music. Venue: Yunnan and Sichuan provinces.

August 10-14

Sholdon Festival--Sholdon means dairy food in Tibetan. The festival is celebrated mainly in Lhasa where families spend a day or two in Norbulinka, the former summer palace of the Dalai Lama, sleeping in colorful tents, feasting on yogurt and tsamba (barley flour mixed with yak butter) and watching performances. Tourists can see Tibetan opera and the Sunning of the Buddha during the festival. Venue: Lhasa, Tibet.

August 15-25

Nadam Fair Grassland Tourism Festival--One of the biggest fairs for Mongolians, which attracts people not only from China but around the world to experience grassland life. The Mongolians hold competitions in wrestling, horse racing and archery. Other activities organized during the festival include eating Mongolian food, watching Mongolian dancing and shopping and trade fair. Venue: Inner Mongolia.

August 20-26

The Annual Chang'an International Calligraphy Fair--Calligraphy is among the most treasured activities in the cultural heritage of China and is becoming popular in many parts of the world. In Xi'an, an ancient capital city, the festival is held to help tourists to learn and appreciate the art. There are calligraphy exchanges, exhibitions and sales of the four treasures of the study, visiting the stone tablets and signing of autographs at the Wild Goose Pagoda. Venue: Xi'an, Shaanxi Province.

August 20-26

Grape Festival--A festival of the Uygur and Han people in the northwestern corner of China during the grape harvest season. The festival is held in Turpan, called the City of Grapes. Tourists are taken on tours of grape farms where they can eat as much as they wish. Melon fairs, fruit streets, Uygur dancing and camel riding are other activities during the festival. Turpan is also called the Land of Fire as it is very hot, sometimes more than 40 degrees centigrade, in the summer. Venue: Turpan, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

August 25-September 25

Gong and Drum Festival--This is a grand spectacle of local arts. The Weifeng gong-and-drum performances go back 4��000 years and once they start beating the gongs and drums, nothing can stop them.Venue: Linfen, Shanxi Province.

September

Tonghua Wine and Ginseng Festival--Tonghua is best known for two things-Wine and ginseng-and local travel companies have designed tours accordingly. During this festival, you can attend Buddhist ceremonies. Mt Jiahua is one of the four major Buddhist mountains in China and a national scenic spot covering an area of 334 square kilometers. There are now 78 existing temples with about 300 monks and nuns. Venue: Guichi, Anhui Province.

September

Enjoying the Mid--Autumn Moon on Mt Tai for Overseas Chinese-A program that includes recreating a Song Dynasty ritual on Mt Tai, praying at Xiwangmu Temple, poem recitations, campfires, and qigong demonstrations at Puzhao Temple. Venue: Tai'an, Shandong Province.

September

Mt Tai International Mountain Climbing Festival-Mount Tai is one of the most famous mountains in China. Climbing Mount Tai used to be very difficult until a cable car was built to reach the peak a few years ago. However, mountain climbers enjoy the challenge and still hold international competitions there annually. Tourists can try to climb Mount Tai and watch the reenactment of ancient imperial sacrificial rituals on Mount Tai. Venue: Tai'an, Shandong Province.

September 1-14

First Pomegranate Festival of Lintong--A chance to plant pomegranate trees, enjoy the flowers, taste local food, watch the Qin Dynasty Culture Show and learn more about the tourism of the area. Venue: Lintong, near Xi'an, Shaanxi Province.

September 8-12

China Silk Festival--Features of this festival include going to China's best-known silk production city to visit the silk museum, learning about mulberry-silkworm raising, silk reeling, weaving and embroidery. Venue: Suzhou, Jiangsu Province.

September 9-15

Ancient Culture and Art Festival--A special festival to promote China's ancient culture and civilization by offering visitors activities such as watching fireworks and performances, attending exhibitions of precious cultural relics, tasting local cuisine, and going to qigong and sports shows. Venue: Xi'an, Shaanxi Province.

September 9-15

Tide-Watching Festival at Qiantang River--Thousands of people stand at the riverside at this time of the year to watch the rising tides on the Qiantang River. The Qiantang tide at this time of the year is said to be mysteriously magnificent. Tourists also have a chance to taste the river's fresh water crabs. Venue: Haining, Zhejiang Province.

September 10-15

International Shaolin Martial--Arts Festival-Shaolin martial arts, which really took shape during the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534 AD), were built from different foundations. Shaolin Temple, located in Henan Province, is the birthplace of this style of martial arts. The festival features martial arts competitions and demonstrations and travel activities, including qigong shows, free-style and sparring exercises, cruises on the Yellow River, folk art performances and trade and economic activities. Venue: Mt Song, Henan Province.

September 12-22

Ningxia International Yellow River Culture Festival--Started in 1991, the festival highlights local folk culture, which is a combination of the Islamic, Buddhist and secular cultures, and local economic development, which has long been nurtured by the Yellow River. Though a rather undiscovered tourist destination, the region boasts several scenic attractions. Tourist programs include cruises on the Yellow River, visits to historical relics, large-scale folk culture activities, ethnic minority dance and economic cooperation talks. Venue: Yinchuan, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.

September 15

International Steam Locomotive Festival--A rare chance to see an old-fashioned locomotive factory in the city of Datong. The factory, which has stopped producing locomotives for sale, still attracts tourists from many countries. During the festival they can visit the Steam Locomotive Museum and ride on the old fashioned steam trains. Venue: Datong, Shanxi Province.

September 21

Mid Autumn Moon over Lake Tai--The Mid-Autumn Festival is the traditional Chinese festival for family reunions and thinking of loved ones. In the evening, people sit under the full moon and eat Chinese moon cakes. During the festival in Wuxi, people spend the evening on tranquil Lake Tai enjoying the moon and the fireworks. Then they attend folk activities and taste the famous Wuxi rice-and-fish cuisine. Venue: Wuxi, Jiangsu Province.