Just as Halloween is for Americans, the Zhongyuan Festival is for Chinese. The Zhongyuan Festival, also known as Ghost Festival, falls on the 15th day of the 7th lunar month. It's on August 30th this year.
The Zhongyuan Festival first came from Northern Wei Dynasty and a Taoist（道教的）saying. According to the saying, on the 1st day of the 7th month, the gates of hell open and hungry ghosts are free to find food or to punish （惩罚） people who did bad things according to Taoist rules.
People now spend the festival in different ways. In Henan, some people fly kites on this day and burn some paper in front of the door to remember the dead family members. In Hebei, people bring fruit, ghost money and dried meat to sweep tombs（扫墓）. They also offer fruit and lamb to the grandchildren in the family. In Fujian, visitors may see some river lanterns along the river. The lanterns help to show the way to the ghosts.
People in Guangdong, however, have the festival on the 14th day of the 7th month. At night, they put the meal, ghost money and candles in front of their doors to make the ghosts happy so that ghosts wouldn't bring bad luck to people.
The Zhongyuan Festival is a traditional Chinese festival to remember the ancestors（先祖）. As time goes by, more and more people would like to learn more about the Zhongyuan festival. They see it as a good time to show love not only to their family and friends, but also to the Chinese tradition.
