Shanghai: Events

Shanghai's revelling options are myriad; the city's inhabitants celebrate everything from the dead poets to beer, and they do it with a vibrant dash you'll remember long after you've licked away the last crumbs of moon cake.

The biggest event in Shanghai's calendar is the Spring Festival, otherwise known as Chinese New Year, when many people take a week off. The Longhua Temple has large celebrations, with dragon and lion dances. The Lantern Festival (February) is a lovely time to visit - buildings are decorated with coloured lanterns. A Temple Fair is held at the Longhua Temple on the third day of the third lunar month (around April). It's eastern China's largest and oldest folk gathering. The Shanghai International Tea Culture Festival is usually at the end of April. Tomb Sweeping Day, also in April, is a day for worshipping ancestors; people visit the graves of their dearly departed relatives and often burn 'ghost money' (for use in the afterworld) for the departed.

The Dragon Boat Festival on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month (June) commemorates the death of Qu Yuan, a 3rd-century-BC poet-statesman who drowned himself to protest against the corrupt government. The Shanghai Beer Festival staggers into town around the end of July. The Mid-Autumn Festival is also known as the Moon Festival and is the time to eat tasty moon cakes. It takes place in September, on the 15th day of the 8th moon. The Shanghai Tourism Festival kicks off in late September and offers a wide variety of cultural programs. In November and early December there's an annual International Arts Festival.