Taiwan, aka the Republic of China. You’ve got 20 million people packed onto an island half the size of West Virginia. You’ve got typhoons, you’ve got earthquakes, you’ve got toilet-themed restaurants.
You’d think the country was a disaster waiting to happen. But the Taiwanese have engineered a modern miracle, surviving, even thriving, in the shadow of an omni-giant rival the size of, well, China.
Taiwan celebrates many of the same traditional days as its neighbor to the West, as well as a number of civic holidays all its own.
National & Popular Holidays:
Chinese New Year (January-February)
Tomb Sweeping Day / Qing Ming (April 4-5)
Matsu’s Birthday (23rd day of 3rd month; April–May)
Dragon Boat Festival / Duan Wu (5th day of 5th month; June)
Hungry Ghost Festival (15th day of 7th month; August)
Mid-Autumn Festival (15th day of 8th month; September)
Double Tenth / Wuchang Uprising (October 10)
Sun Yat-sen’s Birthday / Doctor’s Day (November 12)
Constitution Day (December 25)
Chinese New Year’s Eve (Day before Chinese New Year)
Other Traditional Holidays:
Lantern Festival (15th day of 1st month)
Tu Di Gong’s Birthday (2nd day of 2nd month)
Kuan Yin’s Birthday (19th day of 2nd month)
Buddha’s Birthday (8th day of 4th month)
Kuan Kung’s Birthday (13th day of 5th month)
Chi Hsi Festival (7th day of 7th month)
Double Ninth Festival (9th day of 9th month)
Other Civic Holidays:
Foundation Day (January 1)
Peace Memorial Day (February 28)
Arbor Day (March 12)
Youth Day (March 29)
Mother’s Day (2nd Sunday in May)
Armed Forces Day (September 3)
Teachers’ Day (September 28)
Retrocession Day (October 25)
