The Dongzhi Festival (冬至), China’s Winter Solstice festival, falls on Tuesday, 22 December 2026 in China, when the Sun reaches 270° at 4:50 AM China Standard Time. In the Americas the same instant is Monday, 21 December. Families gather for dumplings in the north, tangyuan in the south, and offerings to ancestors.
Key takeaways
- Dongzhi 2026 begins at 4:50 AM China Standard Time on Tuesday, 22 December 2026 (Hong Kong Observatory, US Naval Observatory).
- In California the solstice instant falls shortly before 1 PM Pacific time on Monday, 21 December 2026, a calendar day earlier.
- Northern China eats jiaozi dumplings, southern China and Shanghai eat tangyuan for reunion, and Taiwan families offer nine-layer cakes to their ancestors (China Daily).
- Dongzhi opens the “counting the nines”: nine periods of nine days, 81 days in all, until spring (CGTN).
- UNESCO inscribed the Twenty-Four Solar Terms on its intangible heritage list in 2016; Korea marks the same day as Dongji with red bean porridge, and Japan as Tōji with yuzu baths.
When is Dongzhi 2026?
Dongzhi 2026 falls on Tuesday, 22 December 2026 in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and the rest of East Asia, and on Monday, 21 December 2026 in the Americas. The date follows the astronomical solstice, the moment the Sun reaches ecliptic longitude 270°.
The US Naval Observatory puts the December 2026 solstice at 20:50 Universal Time on 21 December: 4:50 AM on 22 December in China Standard Time (UTC+8), the same minute the Hong Kong Observatory’s 2026 solar-terms table lists.
| Place | Local time of the 2026 solstice | Festival date |
|---|---|---|
| Beijing, Hong Kong, Taipei (UTC+8) | 4:50 AM, Tuesday 22 December | 22 December |
| New York (UTC−5) | Shortly before 4 PM, Monday 21 December | 21 December |
| Encinitas, California (UTC−8) | Shortly before 1 PM, Monday 21 December | 21 December |
Dongzhi follows Daxue (Major Snow, 7 December 2026, China time), Xiaoxue, the Minor Snow solar term and Lidong, the Chinese Start of Winter. See also why the earliest sunset comes before the winter solstice.
Why is Dongzhi such an important festival?
Dongzhi is one of the oldest dates in the Chinese calendar: the turning point when the shortest day gives way to lengthening light. An old saying, in China Daily’s English rendering, ranks it with the Lunar New Year: “Winter Solstice is as significant as Spring Festival.”
China News Service reports that Dongzhi was the first of the 24 solar terms to be fixed, more than 2,500 years ago, with a sundial, and that in the Han dynasty it became a festival and a day of rest, once counted as the first day of the new year. The Tang, Song and Qing dynasties kept it as a day of offerings to Heaven and to ancestors (China Daily).
The 24 solar terms divide the Sun’s yearly path into 15° steps from the March equinox (Hong Kong Observatory); UNESCO added them to its intangible heritage list in 2016.
How do people celebrate Dongzhi?
Families reunite over regional dishes, honoring ancestors and welcoming back the Sun.
| Region | Dongzhi custom | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Northern China | Jiaozi dumplings; folk belief says they keep ears from freezing | China News Service, China Daily |
| Shanghai and southern China | Tangyuan, glutinous rice balls for reunion; eating them is said to make you a year older | China Daily, China News Service |
| Suzhou, Jiangsu | Wontons, linked to a 2,500-year-old legend of Xishi | China Daily |
| Hangzhou, Zhejiang | Rice cakes, once made at home to honor ancestors and give to relatives | China Daily |
| Sanmen County, Zhejiang | Ancestor ceremonies at home and in ancestral halls | CGTN |
| Taiwan | Nine-layer cakes offered to ancestors; clan members gather at ancestral temples, then feast | China Daily |
A northern saying pairs dumplings on Dongzhi with noodles on the summer solstice (China Daily).
What is “counting the nines”?
Counting the nines (数九, shujiu) is a folk countdown that starts on Dongzhi: nine periods of nine days, 81 days in all, until spring. CGTN calls the period the coldest 81 days on the traditional calendar, and by the ninth “nine” most of China is ready for spring.
China News Service reports that people consider the third and fourth nines the coldest stretch of the year. Counted from Dongzhi 2026, the 81 days run into March 2027.
How do Korea and Japan mark the winter solstice?
Korea calls the day Dongji and Japan Tōji, each with its own customs.
- Korea: Dongji. Korea.net, the government’s official site, reports that Koreans once saw Dongji as the rebirth of the sun and called it “little Lunar New Year”. Families made patjuk, red bean porridge, and offered it to ancestors, believing its red color repels evil spirits.
- Japan: Tōji. Nippon.com reports that people put yuzu citrus in the bath and eat kabocha squash. The bath was believed to keep colds away; Nippon.com calls that hope overoptimistic but the scent relaxing.
What does tradition say about health at Dongzhi?
The Huangdi Neijing, the classic of Chinese medicine, calls the three winter months a season of storage and advises going to bed early and rising late, waiting for daylight (as cited by Xinhua). Some of that fits light research; the food customs make no health claim.
| Tradition says | Science says | Grade | On My BodyClock |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rest more in the long winter nights | 5 adults camping by natural light near the winter solstice in Colorado slept earlier than under electric light, and their biological night was longer than in summer (Current Biology, 2017) | plausible | Sleep from 10 PM to 6:30 AM |
| Wait for the Sun before starting the day | Among 32 day workers in Kiruna, Sweden, more morning daylight was linked with earlier mid-sleep (Clocks & Sleep, 2018) | plausible | A walk soon after sunrise |
| Yuzu baths keep colds away | No trial support; Nippon.com calls the hope overoptimistic | cultural | A warm evening bath to wind down |
| Dumplings protect the ears; tangyuan bring reunion | Food and family customs, not health claims | cultural | A shared family dinner at 6 PM |
Caveats: the camping study had five people and the Kiruna study was observational; neither tests qi, only timing. In Beijing on 22 December 2026 the Sun is up for about 9 hours 20 minutes (US Naval Observatory), so body-clock-setting daylight is scarce. More in sleeping more in winter and how to fix your sleep schedule.
Your day on My BodyClock
The day above on My BodyClock keeps both the festival and the rhythm. Wake-up stays at 6:30 AM, and walks after sunrise and at midday catch the scarce winter light. After work comes the reunion: an hour making dumplings with family, dinner at 6 PM and an offering for the ancestors. A warm bath at 8:30 PM and dim lights lead to sleep at 10 PM, so the long night goes to rest.
The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute advises the same bed and wake times every day. Build your own winter plan in Owaves: My BodyClock, the World’s First Wellness Planner, Powered by Your Body Clock. Take the Body Clock Type quiz, download Owaves on the App Store, or join the Android waitlist. For how the season itself is dated, see when does winter start.
FAQ
When is Dongzhi in 2026?
Dongzhi 2026 falls on Tuesday, 22 December 2026 in China, when the Sun reaches 270° at 4:50 AM China Standard Time. In the Americas the solstice instant is on Monday, 21 December, shortly before 1 PM Pacific time.
Is Dongzhi always on 22 December?
No. Dongzhi follows the December solstice, so by China time it falls on 21 or 22 December and can shift by a day from year to year.
What do people eat for the Dongzhi Festival?
In northern China, jiaozi dumplings; in Shanghai and much of the south, tangyuan glutinous rice balls. Suzhou eats wontons, Hangzhou rice cakes and Korea red bean porridge (China Daily, Korea.net).
Sources
- Hong Kong Observatory. 24 Solar Terms, 2026 (Almanac 2026). https://my.weather.gov.hk/en/gts/astron2026/files/2026SolarTerms24.pdf
- US Naval Observatory, Astronomical Applications. Earth’s Seasons, 2026 (API). https://aa.usno.navy.mil/api/seasons?year=2026
- Hong Kong Observatory. The 24 Solar Terms. https://www.hko.gov.hk/en/gts/time/24solarterms.htm
- UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage. The Twenty-Four Solar Terms (inscribed 2016). https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/the-twenty-four-solar-terms-knowledge-in-china-of-time-and-practices-developed-through-observation-of-the-sun-s-annual-motion-00647
- Shanghai Municipal People’s Government (China Daily). Things you may not know about Winter Solstice (24 December 2024). https://english.shanghai.gov.cn/en-LearnChinese/20241224/19f2eedb723945e885babb96ce9f255a.html
- China Daily. 24 Solar Terms: 8 foods to eat on Winter Solstice (21 December 2023), pages 1–9. https://language.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202312/21/WS6583e178a31040ac301a8e26.html
- China News Service (Ecns.cn), via China Confucius Foundation. Winter Solstice: history and customs (26 December 2023). https://kzjjh.chinakongzi.org/English/CulturalHighlights/202312/t20231226_569488.htm
- CGTN. From calendar to culture: Winter Solstice a special occasion in China (22 December 2023). https://news.cgtn.com/news/2023-12-22/From-calendar-to-culture-Winter-Solstice-a-special-occasion-in-China-1pK6qBsVK1O/index.html
- Yoon Seungjin. Folk museum holds events to mark ‘little Lunar New Year’. Korea.net (22 December 2023). https://www.korea.net/NewsFocus/Culture/view?articleId=244342
- Nippon.com. Tōji (Winter Solstice), Japan’s 24 Solar Terms (22 December 2023). https://www.nippon.com/en/articles/-/12930
- Wang Shuo. 立冬养生有哪些讲究？专家建议先“藏”再“补” (citing the Huangdi Neijing). Xinhua (7 November 2026). https://www.news.cn/politics/20261107/e9636b198b1c4afe8a9effcd284d716e/c.html
- Stothard ER et al. Circadian Entrainment to the Natural Light-Dark Cycle across Seasons and the Weekend. Current Biology (2017). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2016.12.041
- Lowden A et al. Delayed Sleep in Winter Related to Natural Daylight Exposure among Arctic Day Workers. Clocks & Sleep (2018). https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7509675/
- US Naval Observatory. Sun and Moon Data for One Day, Beijing, 22 December 2026. https://aa.usno.navy.mil/api/rstt/oneday?date=2026-12-22&coords=39.9042,116.4074&tz=8
- National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Healthy Sleep Habits. https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/sleep-deprivation/healthy-sleep-habits
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