# Mid-Autumn, Dragon Boat and Other Chinese Festivals: What to Say and Do Greetings, food and small talk for the Mid-Autumn Festival, the Dragon Boat Festival, Qingming, Qixi, Golden Week and the Winter Solstice, with two legends and audio Source: https://www.saymei.app/resources/downloads/chinese-festivals-mid-autumn-dragon-boat ## At a glance - Level: Beginner · HSK 1 - Format: Workbook · PDF · 22 pages · US Letter (prints on A4) - Price: Free · free with a saymei account · updated Nov 4, 2026 ## Download Free with a SayMei account, on the workbook's page: https://www.saymei.app/resources/downloads/chinese-festivals-mid-autumn-dragon-boat. SayMei emails a copy too. ## A line from the workbook 中秋节快乐！ (Zhōngqiūjié kuàilè!) — Happy Mid-Autumn Festival! ## By the end you can - Greet people at Mid-Autumn, share mooncakes and tell the story of Chang'e. Put 快乐 after the festival's name, add 祝您 for your boss or someone older, offer a mooncake, and read why people look at the moon and miss their families. 来，尝尝这个月饼。 (Lái, chángchang zhège yuèbing.): Here, try this mooncake. - Say 端午安康 and talk about zongzi and the boat races. Know why many people prefer 端午安康 to 端午节快乐, read how Qu Yuan began the festival, and ask A-or-B questions with 还是. 你喜欢甜粽子还是咸粽子？ (Nǐ xǐhuan tián zòngzi háishi xián zòngzi?): Do you like sweet zongzi or salty zongzi? - Talk about Qingming kindly and respectfully. Qingming is a day to remember family who have died, so skip 快乐: ask about plans, wish a good rest, and reply 路上小心 to someone going to sweep a grave. 清明假期好好休息。 (Qīngmíng jiàqī hǎohǎo xiūxi.): Have a good rest over the Qingming break. - Wish someone a happy Qixi and give a gift. Say you give someone a present with 送 + person + thing, and hand it over with the natural line for "this is for you". 这是送给你的。 (Zhè shì sòng gěi nǐ de.): This is for you. - Ask about Golden Week plans and talk about the crowds. Say how many days off you get with 放 + number + 天 + 假, and describe the crowds at famous places with 人山人海. 我们放七天假。 (Wǒmen fàng qī tiān jià.): We get seven days off. - Ask what people eat at the Winter Solstice. Ask whether something has happened yet with 了吗, answer with the verb + 了 or 还没, and know who eats dumplings and who eats tangyuan. 你买汤圆了吗？还没买。 (Nǐ mǎi tāngyuán le ma? Hái méi mǎi.): Have you bought tangyuan yet? Not yet. - Find any festival's month, greeting and food, then get through a festival evening at work. Use the year-at-a-glance calendar of ten festivals, then greet colleagues, share mooncakes and ask about National Day plans in one conversation. 你最喜欢哪个节日？ (Nǐ zuì xǐhuan nǎge jiérì?): Which festival do you like best? ## What's inside - Mid-Autumn: Mid-Autumn: Mooncakes and the Moon · Chang'e Flies to the Moon · Mooncakes and Moon Messages - Dragon Boat: Dragon Boat: Zongzi and Boat Races · Qu Yuan and the River · Sweet or Salty Zongzi? - Qingming: Learn: Qingming: Remembering Family · Practice: Talking About Qingming - Qixi: Learn: Qixi: China's Valentine's Day · Practice: Plan a Qixi Evening - Golden Week: Learn: National Day and Golden Week · Practice: Holiday Plans and Crowds - Winter Solstice: Learn: Solstice: Jiaozi or Tangyuan · Practice: What Do You Eat at the Solstice? - Calendar: The Festival Year at a Glance - Review: A Mid-Autumn Evening at Work ## How to use this book Each festival has a learn page and a practice page, and Mid-Autumn and the Dragon Boat Festival add a short legend. Say every line in the audio's pause, then go back to a chapter a few days before that festival comes round. - Session 1: Mid-Autumn. Pages 3 to 5. Learn the greetings, read the legend of Chang'e, then send a friend a Mid-Autumn voice message. - Session 2: The Dragon Boat Festival. Pages 6 to 8. Read the story of Qu Yuan, then ask three A-or-B questions with 还是 and pick the right greeting. - Session 3: Qingming and Qixi. Pages 9 to 12. Practise the kind replies for Qingming, then give a gift and say a short Qixi message. - Session 4: Golden Week and the solstice. Pages 13 to 16. Say how many days off you get, then ask what a friend's family eats at the solstice. - Session 5: The calendar and the review. Find each festival on page 17, then act out the evening at work on page 18 with two friends. - Before each festival: Warm up the greeting. Replay that chapter's audio and say its lines out loud, so the greeting is ready on the day. ## Who it's for Adult beginners who work, study or live with Chinese speakers, or have Chinese friends or family, and want to say the right thing on festival days: at the office, at a family dinner or in a message. Before you start: Beginner Chinese is enough. Every line has characters, pinyin and English, and the free audio reads each one slowly with a pause to say it back. Answers and the audio script are at the back. ## Can I say 快乐 for every Chinese festival? Not for Qingming, a day to remember family who have died. Ask about someone's plans instead, or wish them a good rest over the break. At the Dragon Boat Festival many young people say 端午节快乐, but 端午安康 is the safe choice with older people and at work. ## Does the book cover Chinese New Year? Spring Festival and the Lantern Festival have their own book, Chinese New Year 2027 Workbook. This one covers Mid-Autumn, the Dragon Boat Festival, Qingming, Qixi, Golden Week and the Winter Solstice, and its calendar on page 17 still lists New Year with its greeting. ## Is there audio? Yes, free on the book's audio page: one track for each festival, one for the calendar and one for the review. Every line is read slowly with a pause to say it back. Some tasks say "Listen": those lines are only on the audio, and the audio script at the back has them. ## Is this workbook free? Yes. The whole 22-page PDF is free, and you can look through its pages here before you download. There's no card and nothing to pay. ## Do I need a SayMei account? Yes, to download the PDF, and the account is free: sign up with Google, Apple or your email address. With it we email you a copy of the workbook, keep every workbook you download on your account on all your devices, save your place in the free online practice, and you can practise speaking with Mei Lin, SayMei's AI tutor. ## How do I print it? The PDF is US Letter size. On A4 paper, choose "Fit to page" (or "Scale to fit") in the print dialog so nothing is cut off. Print the whole workbook or only the pages you need; colour looks best, and black and white works too. ## Can I print copies for my class? Yes. Print as many copies as you like for your own class or family. To share it, send this page: everyone can download their own copy. Version 2026-11, updated Nov 4, 2026.