Reflections | Chung Yeung explained: the little-known Chinese holiday to honour the dead, hike and drink wine, its roots, and why most people don’t celebrate it

Hong Kong and Macau are the only Han Chinese-majority regions to designate Chung Yeung, also known as Chongyang or the Double Ninth Festival, as a holiday

This year it falls on October 23. In Hong Kong, most people will visit the graves or niches of dead relatives. Other traditions include hiking and drinking wine

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A man pays his respects at a cemetery in Hong Kong in 2021 during the Chung Yeung Festival, also known as the Double Ninth Festival. We take a look at its origins and why so many do not know about it. Photo: AFP

Wee Kek Koon

Published: 8:15am, 22 Oct 2023

The festival of Chung Yeung (Chongyang in Mandarin, or the Double Ninth Festival), which falls on October 23 this year, is one of the least known and least observed Chinese holidays today.

Without popular and accessible customs or foods associated with the festival, most Chinese today do not quite know what to make of it.

Hong Kong and Macau are the only Han Chinese-majority regions to designate Chongyang as a public holiday. It falls on the ninth day of the ninth month on the traditional Chinese calendar.

It is not publicly observed in China, Taiwan or anywhere else in the world. In Hong Kong, people usually visit the graves or niches of their dead relatives on that day.

People sweep their ancestors’ graves during Chung Yeung at a cemetery in Hong Kong in 2009. Photo: AFP

Apart from remembering and paying respects to the dead, traditional activities associated with Chongyang include hiking on hills, drinking wine infused with chrysanthemums and carrying an aromatic herb called zhuyu on one’s person.