Every October, China turns golden. The rice harvest is gathered, the air is crisp, and families across the country prepare for one of the oldest and most poetic festivals in the Chinese calendar - the Double Ninth Festival (重阳节，Chongyang Jie). In 2026 it falls on October 18, a Sunday, and it is the perfect window for foreign travellers to see a side of China that most tour itineraries completely miss: an autumn festival built on mountains, flowers, poetry and respect for the elderly.
If you are planning a trip to China this autumn - whether for study, leisure or a family holiday - here is everything you need to know about the Double Ninth Festival, and how you can experience it like a local.
The Double Ninth Festival is celebrated on the ninth day of the ninth month of the Chinese lunar calendar - hence "double nine." In Chinese philosophy, numbers are divided into yin (even, female, dark) and yang (odd, male, bright). The number nine is the largest single-digit yang number, the symbol of the sun and of masculine vitality. Double nine - two nines - means "double yang," or chong yang in Chinese, which is where the name Chongyang Festival comes from.
Because the number nine sounds like the word for "long-lasting" (久，jiǔ) in Chinese, the Double Ninth Festival has always been associated with longevity and good health. In 1989, the Chinese government officially designated the day as Senior Citizens' Day (敬老节，Jinglao Jie), adding a beautiful modern layer to an ancient festival: on this day, families honour their elders, visit grandparents, and wish them long, healthy lives.
Like most Chinese festivals, the Double Ninth Festival has an origin story. The most famous one dates back nearly 2,000 years to the Eastern Han Dynasty.
A man named Huan Jing (桓景) was studying under a Taoist master, the famous magician Fei Changfang (费长房). One day, the master warned him: "A plague is coming to your village on the ninth day of the ninth month. Go home, and tell every family to climb to high ground and bring a pouch of cornel (zhuyu) and some chrysanthemum wine. Only those who climb high will survive."
Huan Jing obeyed. When the ninth day of the ninth month arrived, the villagers climbed to the top of a nearby mountain, carrying cornel twigs and drinking chrysanthemum wine. The plague swept through the valley below, but everyone who had climbed high was safe. When they returned home, they found their livestock dead - but their families alive.
From that day, the tradition of climbing high on the ninth day of the ninth month was born: a way to escape disaster, honour health and celebrate life. The custom spread from village to village, and eventually across the whole of China.
The heart of the Double Ninth Festival is mountain climbing. On October 18 this year, parks, hills and sacred mountains across China will be full of families making the ascent - grandmothers in hiking shoes, children running ahead, three generations sharing thermoses of tea at the summit.
Climbing high is not just exercise; it is a symbol of rising above difficulties, of gaining a longer view of life, and of literally "ascending" toward health and good fortune. For visitors, this is the easiest custom to join: almost every Chinese city has a climbable hill, and the views in October - with autumn colours at their peak - are spectacular.
The chrysanthemum is the flower of autumn in China, and the Double Ninth Festival is its festival. While most flowers fade in October, the chrysanthemum blooms in defiance of the cold - which is exactly why the Chinese revere it. It represents resilience, nobility and longevity.
During the festival, botanical gardens and ancient parks hold large chrysanthemum exhibitions, with hundreds of varieties arranged in dazzling displays - golden, crimson, purple, snow-white, spider-petalled and quilled. The best-known displays in China include the parks of Beijing, Kaifeng, Hangzhou and Zhongshan, but almost every city celebrates.
Chrysanthemum wine is brewed by steeping chrysanthemum petals in rice wine or liquor, sometimes with herbs. It was traditionally drunk on the festival to clear the eyes, strengthen the body and ward off autumn ailments. Today, families share a cup at the festival table, and restaurants and tea houses across China serve chrysanthemum tea - the gentler, all-age version - throughout the season.
What Christmas pudding is to the West, Chongyang cake is to the Double Ninth Festival. This steamed layer cake is made of rice flour, dates, chestnuts and nuts, and it has a lovely symbolic logic: the Chinese word for "cake" (gao, 糕) sounds like the word for "high" (gao, 高) — so eating the cake is another way of "climbing high," even for those who cannot hike a mountain. Grandparents give Chongyang cake to children with the wish that they grow taller and rise in life.
In ancient times, people wore sprigs of cornel (zhuyu) on their sleeves or in their hair to ward off evil and plague - the custom from the Huan Jing legend. Today, the practical custom has faded, but the spirit lives on: the Double Ninth Festival is now China's day of respect for the elderly. Expect to see schools organising visits to nursing homes, families taking grandparents out for dinner, and grandchildren calling home from other cities. It is a touching, genuinely moving day to witness - and to join.
No introduction to the Double Ninth Festival would be complete without the most famous poem in Chinese about it - written more than 1,300 years ago by the Tang Dynasty poet Wang Wei (王维), when he was far from home:
九月九日忆山东兄弟 独在异乡为异客， 每逢佳节倍思亲。 遥知兄弟登高处， 遍插茱萸少一人。
Thinking of My Brothers on Mountain-Climbing Day Alone, a lonely stranger in a foreign land, I doubly pine for my kinsfolk on holiday. I know my brothers would, with dogwood spray in hand, Climb up the mountain and miss me so.
The line "每逢佳节倍思亲" - "I doubly pine for my kinsfolk on holiday" - has become the most quoted line in Chinese about homesickness. For travellers, reading this poem on a Chinese mountaintop on October 18 is the kind of cultural moment that turns a holiday into a memory for life.
The festival is celebrated across the whole country, but some places are particularly special:
At PandaStudyTour, we specialise in custom China tours and study programmes for international visitors, and the autumn festival season is one of our favourite times to design itineraries. Here is what we can arrange around the Double Ninth Festival:
Because every PandaStudyTour itinerary is tailor-made, we can build your whole China trip around the Double Ninth Festival, or simply add one unforgettable festival morning to a longer journey.
The Double Ninth Festival is China at its most poetic - a day when the whole country climbs toward the sky, drinks to health, eats for good fortune, and calls its grandparents. It is older than the Great Wall's current form, deeper than any souvenir photo, and — with the right guide - one of the most enriching cultural experiences a visitor to China can have.
This October 18, why not be on a Chinese mountain, watching the chrysanthemums bloom and the families celebrate? Contact PandaStudyTour today, tell us your travel dates and interests, and we will build your Double Ninth Festival China experience around you.
When is the Double Ninth Festival in 2026? October 18, 2026 (Sunday). It is the ninth day of the ninth lunar month.
Is the Double Ninth Festival a public holiday? No. It is a traditional festival but not a public holiday, so businesses stay open and tourist sites operate normally - which makes it a great day to travel without closures.
Is the Double Ninth Festival the same as Senior Citizens' Day? Yes. Since 1989 China has also observed it as Senior Citizens' Day, honouring the elderly and promoting longevity and family respect.
Can foreigners join the Double Ninth Festival? Absolutely - and they should. Climbing, chrysanthemum viewing, cake making and tea ceremonies are all open and welcoming to visitors. PandaStudyTour can arrange guides, workshops and festival-day activities in English.
What is the meaning of climbing high on this day? Climbing high symbolises rising above difficulties, escaping misfortune (from the Huan Jing legend) and wishing health and longevity. The word for "cake" (gao) sounds like "high" (gao), which is why Chongyang cake is eaten as a substitute for climbing.
