Ghost Festival

The Ghost Festival 鬼节 (guǐjié), officially Zhongyuan 中元节 (Zhōngyuán jié), also called the Hungry Ghost Festival, falls on the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month — the “ghost month”, when the gates of the underworld are said to stand open. It is not a public holiday, and it is not Qingming: Qingming is a visit to the tomb in spring; this night is for the dead who have no one to visit them, and for ancestors who return.

Families burn joss paper, set out food, and keep a place at the table. In the south and in overseas communities, opera is performed for an audience that includes empty seats. Swimming, moving house and marrying are among the things many still avoid during the month. The living eat after the dead have been served.

The date moves through August and September. It sits on the calendar between Qixi and the Mid-Autumn Festival, three full moons of the second half of the year.