Saka Dawa, held throughout the Tibetan world, celebrates the Buddha passing away and thus attaining nirvana. It's held on the 8th to 15th days of the fourth lunar month, with religious dancing, mass chanting and "sunning the Buddha" -- the public display of giant sanctified silk portraits.
Ice and Snow Festival (Harbin): Not so much a festival as an extended citywide exhibition, Harbin's Ice and Snow Festival runs from December to March every year and is without doubt the northeast's top winter attraction. The festival centers around hundreds of elaborate ice and snow sculptures, frosty reproductions of everything from Tian'an Men to Elvis.
Sanyue Jie (Dali): This once-religious festival celebrated by the Bai people in mid-April/early May now features 5 days and nights of considerably more secular singing, dancing, wrestling, horse-racing, and large-scale trading. This is a rare opportunity to see not only the Bai, but a number of Yunnan's other minorities, gathering together in one of the most beautiful and serene settings in the foothills of the Green Mountains (Cang Shan).
Kurban Bairam (Kashgar): Celebrations are held in Muslim communities across China, but in Kashgar they involve feats of tightrope-walking in the main square and wild dancing outside the Idkah Mosque. The 4-day festival is held 70 days after the breaking of the fast of Ramadan, on the 10th day of the 12th month (Dhul-Hijjah) in the Islamic calendar. It falls on January 13, 2006, and annually shifts backward by 12 days.
Miao New Year Festival (Xijiang, Langde): The Miao celebrate many festivals, but one of the biggest blowouts is the occasion of the Miao New Year, usually around December. The celebration features songs, dances, bullfights, and lusheng competitions, not to mention Miao women gorgeously bedecked in silver headdresses engaging in various courtship rituals.
