A Spring Festival illustration.

Chinese ancestors chose agriculture as their main way of making a living early on. They followed the timing of agricultural seasons to form a Chinese time cognition system and a traditional festival system. They divided the traditional Chinese lunar calendar into 24 solar terms, which have been selected to represent humanity's intangible cultural heritage.

Along with the 24 solar terms, traditional Chinese festivals are unique treasures in the world of festival culture. They even surpass the 24 solar terms in terms of cultural significance, social values, and the services they offer, and hold greater significance in contemporary China.

Of the traditional Chinese festivals are the Dragon Boat Festival, which takes place on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, and the Qiang New Year, the most important holiday for the people of the Qiang ethnic group in Sichuan Province, which falls on the first day of the 10th lunar month. Both of them have been inscribed on the Intangible Cultural Heritage List of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding. 

On December 22, 2023, local time in New York, the 78th United Nations General Assembly unanimously passed a resolution designating the Spring Festival, or the Chinese Lunar New Year, as a U.N. Floating Holiday in the U.N. Calendar of Conferences and Meetings starting from 2024. This demonstrates that the shared values of human civilization, such as family harmony, social inclusivity, and the harmonious coexistence of humans and nature, reflected in the Chinese Spring Festival align with the mission and vision of the United Nations.