Double Ninth Festival
18 October 2026 · movable holiday — Upward we go! Chrysanthemums, tea and respect for our elders.
The Double Ninth Festival (Chongyang, or Chunyan in the Bulgarian spelling) falls on the ninth day of the ninth month of the Chinese lunar calendar. In traditional Chinese symbolism, nine is a yang number (yang being the bright, active principle), so two nines make a double yang, which gives the festival its name. Its customs are old: climbing hills and mountains, admiring chrysanthemums, drinking chrysanthemum wine or tea, and eating cakes called gao (糕). The word for nine (jiǔ) sounds like the word for long-lasting, so the day is linked with longevity and with respect for the elderly. In China it is officially also Senior Citizens' Day. The festival comes in autumn, usually in October, and its date shifts against the solar calendar because it follows the lunar one. In 2026 it is expected on 18 October. Under the clear autumn sky, people climb higher to look far into the distance and wish their loved ones good health.
Flying across the sky: An ethereal, bluish-silver figure made of bright dots and connecting lines, like a constellation: a grandmother and her grandchild climbing a starry mountain, each holding a chrysanthemum made of glowing points, drifting slowly across the night sky
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