September 26

International Forestry Festival--Fall is the best season to visit one of the country's best natural wonders in the Wulingyuan scenic area, which is famous for wild mountain peaks and primitive forests. Besides sightseeing, visitors can attend seminars on forest protection and utilization, as well as the exhibition and sale of forest products. Venue: Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, Hunan Province.

September 26-October 3

Hangzhou West Lake Osmanthus Festival--During this osmanthus festival, visitors can walk along the 10-li (5-kilometre) Osmanthus Corridor, tasting special local food made with osmanthus and enjoying folk operas, songs and dances. Venue: Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province.

September 26-October 10

International Confucian Culture Festival--An annual festival in Qufu held in memory of one of China's greatest philosophers and educators. Visitors can see a recreation of an ancient memorial ceremony for Confucius and take educational tours of Qufu, the birthplace of Confucius. Venue: Qufu, Shandong Province.

September 27

World Tourism Day--China holds grand ceremonies each year in different cities and many tour operators and tourism officials in the world are invited to join the celebrations, sightseeing exhibitions, artistic performances and sports activities. Venue: Beijing.

End of September-early October

Golden-Autumn Flower Fair and Gourmet Festival-Yangzhou was a prosperous city in ancient China and is the birthplace of Huaiyang cuisine, one of the four major Chinese cuisine. Besides going to large-scale flower fairs and lantern shows, tourists can taste authentic Huai-yang food prepared by local master chefs. Venue: Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province.

September-October

Shanghai Osmanthus Festival--This is the season when the osmanthus blooms fill the air with a strong fragrant scent. The city offers you a chance to appreciate the beautiful osmanthus, taste osmanthus food; watch artistic performances, and participate in a masquerade ball. Venue: Shanghai.

Early October

Chestnut Festival at the Great Wall--This is a mountain products fair two hours drive away from Beijing. Tourist programs include ancient opera and mock-military games on the Huangyaguan section of the Great Wall. Chestnut, the main mountain product, is in season and visitors can go into the field to pick the nuts or plant trees and visit farmers' homes. Venue: Tianjin.

October

Jingchu Culture and Art Festival--Tourists can attend a Jingchu culture exhibition, visit ancient China's political and literary giant Qu Yuan's birthplace, row Chinese dragon boats and take a cruise through part of the Yangtze River gorges. Venue: Wuhan, Jiangling and Zigui, Hubei Province.

October

Tonglu Chinese Medicine Festival--A good time to learn and buy traditional Chinese medicines as rare and famous Chinese herbal medicine exhibitions are be held then. Doctors and scholars gather for academic exchanges while ordinary visitors can enjoy folk-art performances or health consultations and treatment. Venue: Tonglu, Zhejiang Province.

October

China Jimuo Old Wine Festival--Learn to appreciate central China's wines and attend an aged-wine fair. The festival also includes art performances, trade talks and activities centering on special produce. Venue: Jimuo, Shandong Province.

October 4

Mountain-Climbing Festival--Join in a mountain-climbing race, or taste Changshu's four-treasure banquet. Venue: Changshu and Yushan, Jiangsu Province.

October 4

Ma'anshan International Poetry Recitation--An opportunity to go mountain-climbing and tasting wine, or to write poems, and visit the great poet Li Bai's Memorial Hall. Venue: Ma'anshan, Anhui Province.

October 5

China West Lake Fine Arts Festival--A series of activities featuring Chinese painting, oil painting, water color painting, gouache painting, polished lacquer painting, art performances and exhibitions held at the scenic city of Hangzhou, known for its West Lake. Venue: Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province.October 9-11

Cangzhou Martial-Arts Festival--Cangzhou is a hometown of Chinese kungfu and many kungfu lovers from Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong go there to study it. The festival offers a series of martial-arts demonstrations, including a free-style exercise and an open martial-arts contest. Venue: Cangzhou, Hebei Province.

October 10-14

International Pottery and Porcelain Festival at Jingdezhen--The country's best known capital of pottery and porcelain, Jingdezhen pottery and porcelain products are exported to most countries in the world. Tourists are welcome to visit the masterpiece exhibition, archaeological and pottery exhibitions and join a porcelain study tour or trade talks. Venue: Jingdezhen, Jiangxi Province.

October 14

Double-Ninth Festival (Ninth day of the ninth lunar month)--The festival features mountain climbing, viewing chrysanthemums, kite flying, tasting chrysanthemum wine and festive cakes. Venue: Beijing and Ji'nan, Shandong Province.

October 14

Mt Putuo Buddhist Ceremonies--Mt Putuo is one of the four most famous Buddhist mountains in China. Located on a small island in the East China Sea, the place has nice beaches and scenery, but is best known for its temples. Programs for visitors include mountain-climbing, praying for happiness and attending Buddhist rituals. Venue: Zhoushan, Zhejiang Province.

October-November

Ancient Capital Chrysanthemum Show--This is a show where you can enjoy chrysanthemums displayed by urban households on the streets of the ancient capital of Kaifeng. Venue: Kaifeng, Henan Province.

November 10

Folk Song Festival--A Yao Festival featuring singing of love songs in antiphonal style, drinking wine, parade of ancestors'name tablets and worshiping. Venue: Liannan, Guangdong Province.

November 10

Panwang Festival--A Miao festival, featuring the beating of the long drum, worshiping ancestors, ethnic singing and dancing. Venue: Jinxiu, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

Mid-December

Plum Blossom Festival--Tourists can visit the area to see a sea of plum blossoms in a 70,000-hectare garden. Meanwhile, local artists write poems or paint pictures related to plum blossoms. Venue: Jiangxi Province.

Mid-December

Viewing Migratory Bird Week in Jiujiang-The special geographic and climatic conditions make Boyang Lake the world's largest migratory winter resort. The lake is part-time home to about 150 rare birds and the number of the birds is increasing. Tourists watch the birds from high points of land and from ships. Venue: Jiujiang, Jiangxi Province.

End of December

Chaoshan Gourmet Festival--Known as the Land of Plenty along the seashore, Chaozhou is famous for its cuisine, which is characterized by skillful presentation of seafood, exquisite selection of materials and distinctive flavors. The festival offers visitors a chance to sample Chao-shan and Shantou cuisine and snacks. Venue: Shantou, Guangdong Province.

December 31

Bell-tolling on New Year's Eve--Witness the arrival of the New Year by listening to the bell-tolling in the famous Hanshan, Dazhong, and Longhua temples across China. Hundreds of thousands of Chinese and foreigners gather at these famous temples to wish each other good luck for the coming year. Venue: Suzhou, Beijing, Hangzhou, Shanghai. (China Yearbook 2004)