2021 has come to an end. May all your wishes come true in 2022! There are so many festivals that bring people together to share status and give gifts. Let’s see how many surprises we are going to create or receive in 2022!
- January
New Year / 1 January
New Year is the very beginning of a year for most of countries in the world. In China, 1 January is not valued as Lunar New Year. Some enterprises and organizations will hold celebrations and give gifts to business partners, clients and employees before or after this day.
- February
Spring Festival / 1 February
Chinese Lunar New Year in 2022 is February 1st, which means we have the whole month to prepare for it! The Spring Festival shopping should includes flowers, Spring Festival couplets, fruits and candies and since 2022 is the year of tiger, goods with the image of a tiger will be very welcomed. Chinese New Year is one of the most important holidays in China and is also celebrated worldwide in regions and countries that house significant Overseas Chinese or Sinophone populations. From 3 days before Spring Festival to the fifteenth day of the new year, various festivities are taking place by schedule.
Valentine’s Day / 14 February
Valentine’s Day is probably the most important festival for lovebirds. It usually accompanied with a dinner feast and gifts exchange and some individuals will declare their love on this day with Valentine’s Day gifts like chocolate, flowers, jewelries and so on.
Related: GGB | Tips For Ordering -Valentine's Day Flower N Gifts
Lantern Festival /15 February
The following day is Lantern Festival, also called the Lantern Festival, which is considered as Chinese Valentine’s Day because traditionally people go out at night with paper lanterns and solve riddles on the lantern outside and in ancient times, it’s a chance for individuals to seek a romantic partner.
- March
International Women’s Day / 8 March
International Women’s Day is a statutory holiday in many countries and people celebrate this day even without vacation. In Italy, Russia and Albaria , men tend to give yellow mimosas to women on this day. In Bulgaria and Romania, International Women’s Day is observed as an equivalent of Mother's Day when children give gifts to their mothers and grandmothers.
White Day / 14 March
White day is from Japan. In order to sell marshmallows to men, Ishimuramanseido, a Fukuoka-based confectionery company, called it Marshmallow Day and gave it a new significance that men should give marshmallows to the women who gave them chocolate and other gifts on Valentine's Day as return presents and answers. In no time, confectionery companies began marketing white chocolate with a similar concept. Now, both men and women give reciprocal gifts to those who gave them gifts on Valentine’s day.
St. Patrick's Day / 17 March
Saint Patrick's Day is a cultural and religious celebration held on 17 March, which is the traditional death date of Saint Patrick, the foremost patron saint of Ireland. Saint Patrick's Day is also a public holiday in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, and since Irish descents are all over the world nowadays, many countries celebrate this festival too. For example, the United States has been celebrating Saint Patrick's Day for more than 200 years. It is customary to wear green clothing with shamrocks and green accessories and green gift will be very welcomed for your friends.
- April
April Fools' Day / 1 April
April Fools’ Day is the day when practical jokes and harmless hoaxes will be generously excused. Creative prank gifts are quite popular before the day every year.
Easter / 17 April
Easter is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. The symbols of Easter are Easter eggs and Easter Bunny. Easter eggs symbolize new life and rebirth and people dye the eggs as gifts or to play with children. The Easter Bunny is a popular Easter gift-giving character and in some traditions children put out empty baskets for the Easter Bunny to fill while they sleep.
Administrative Professionals Day / 27 April
Administrative Professionals Day, also called Secretaries Day, is celebrated annually on the Wednesday of the last full week of April in the United States, Hong Kong, Canada and Malaysia. Although it is not a public holiday in Hong Kong, administrative professionals are tend to be given cards, flowers or chocolates from their seniors. Additionally, in Hong Kong, some restaurants will launch administrative-professional-exclusive discount on this day.
- May
Labour Day / 1 May
May begins with Labour Day and 3-day off. Although there is no traditional habits for this festival, people go out for parties with friends and family and exchange gifts like stress relief gifts, fresh fruit baskets and classic wine. Labour Day is celebrated worldwide for the achievements of workers and for most of countries, Labour Day is 1 May, such as France, Sweden and China. For other countries, Labour Day is celebrated on a different date, which is normally with spacial significance for the labour movement in that country.
Mother's Day / 8 May
Mother’s Day in 2022 is 8 May when children will give carnations and other gifts to mothers.
Buddha's Birthday / 8 May
Buddha's Birthday is a Buddhist festival celebrating the birth of the founder of Buddhism, Prince Siddhartha Gautama. It’s also a public holiday in Hong Kong where lanterns symbolize the Buddha’s enlightenment and people visit the temple to show respects.
Network Valentine's Day / 20 May
This “Valentine’s Day” came from the Internet as the number 5, 2 and 0 share similar pronunciations with “I love you” in Chinese, which gives another special day to young couples to express their love.
- June
Children's Day / 1 June
June begins with a festival too. Although Children's Day is not a public holiday in Hong Kong, people still give gifts to children with sincere blessings.
Dragon Boat Festival / 3 June
The Dragon Boat Festival is a traditional Chinese festival commemorating the death of Qu Yuan, a patriotic poet and the minister of the ancient state of Chu, on the fifth of May in the Chinese calendar. Dragon boat racing and zongzi are the most important parts in the Dragon Boat Festival.
Father's Day / 19 June
In most of countries and regions in the world, Father’s Day is held on the third Sunday of June. Taiwan, however, celebrates it on 8 August as the date sounds like “father” in Chinese. The flower of Father’s Day is dendrobium, which usually go with carnation, sunflower, yellow and white rose.
- July
Silver Valentine’s Day / 14 July
This “Valentine’s Day” is from South Korea. Young lovers exchange silver accessories on Silver Valentine’s Day, meet each other’s elders and the elders should pay all the bills on that day.
- August
Qixi Festival / 4 August
The Qixi Festival is also known as the Qiqiao Festival and the Chinese Valentine's Day. It’s a Chinese traditional festival celebrating the cowherd and weaver girl meeting each other annually in mythology, which is actually a natural celestial phenomenon. In Hong Kong, the elders tend to worship the celestials with paper items burned as offerings and young lovers give gifts and have a nice dinner just like Valentine’s Day on February.
Related: The Ultimate Gift Guide to Chinese Valentine’s Day
- September
Mid-Autumn Festival / 10 September
The Mid-Autumn Festival is of great importance in Chinese culture. Hanging lanterns, sharing mooncakes and appreciating the moon in the evening are the most popular festivities on Mid-Autumn Festival in China and people send mooncakes and fruits as gifts before the day too.
- October
Double Ninth Festival / 4 October
The Double Ninth Festival is on the ninth day of the ninth month in the Chinese calendar and is also called “Double Yang Festival” with the customs of climbing a high mountain, cleaning ancestral graves and flying kites. Additionally, the younger generation should show respect and love to elders with presents and blessings.
Diwali / 24 October
Diwali, also known as Divali, is celebrated during the Hindu lunisolar month Kartika and it takes place from 22 October to 26 October with the main day of celebration on Monday 24 October in 2022. It is a 5-day Indian festival of lights celebrated by Hindus, Jains and Sikhs and some Buddhists also celebrate Diwali so that in addition to India, Diwali is a public holiday in Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius, Fiji and Nepal too and the global population celebrating Diwali exceeds one billion.
Halloween / 31 October
The origin of Halloween remains controversial. Halloween is the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Hallows' Day. All Hallows' Day is a Christian festival and as Halloween becoming more and more popular, people hold various activities and launch promotion on Halloween with the theme of “ghost”.
- November
Thanksgiving / 24 November
The forth Thursday on November is Thanksgiving. In the United States, Thanksgiving is a public holiday and people gather with family to share the Thanksgiving feast with delicious turkey.
- December
Christmas / 25 December
Christmas might be the most popular festival on December in the world and it’s also is a public holiday in many countries. The celebratory customs vary among countries and regions. For Christians, Christmas is an annual religious festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ on 25 December. For many non-Christians, it’s all about gift giving, Christmas cards exchange, Christmas trees, Christmas songs, Santa Claus, more importantly, Christmas feast.
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This is a Hong Kong GGB original 'Give Gifts 2022: General holidays and Festivals' blogpost.