China can be a fun, culturally enriching place in which to work, live, or just visit. It can also be a bit wacky at times. And while foreigners may never quite get used to seeing or experiencing what we would consider day-to-day oddities (hugging a tree for exercise springs immediately to mind for some reason), there are much larger cases out there that celebrate the uniqueness of this country we call home. Read on for some of China's most unusual celebrations, past and present.

1) Underwater Olympics
In celebration of Beijing's gig as host of the 2008 Olympics (Remember that? Of course you do), Qingdao decided to raise the bar in terms of sportsmanship and move the action… underwater. Enter Qingdao's Underwater World Aquarium, where athletes – who, no joke, trained for over a year and a half in preparation for these events – wowed the audience with relay races, fencing, shooting, gymnastics (which I imagine most of us could do pretty darn well in underwater), weight lifting, and, of course, basketball. While all this may sound a bit absurd, think about this – these athletes had to compensate for water resistance, buoyancy, and let's not forget breathing. The fencing event, for example, saw competitors balancing on a wire while having to wear bulky air tanks and still try to hit someone. This was not for the uncoordinated.

When: January 2008
Where: Qingdao

2) The Festival of Hungry Ghosts
Did you ever have one of those days, where you woke up one morning to the noise of people running around burning fake money on the streets? Yup, that'd be the Festival of Hungry Ghosts (中元节), a day that commemorates when some sort of portal opens to the underworld, basically creating a giant "Welcome!" sign to mischievous ghosts. The fake money is burned to appease the ghosts (because apparently the currency in the underworld is Monopoly money) in addition to any other paper replica of things ghosts would ostensibly like in the real world—houses, cars, women. Actually, I've never seen fake paper women burned, but I'm still leaving it as a possibility… Beautiful paper lanterns are also lit, incense is burned, and fireworks (oh, the fireworks!) are set off constantly to scare away the ghosts after trying to appease them.

When: 15th day of the 7th lunar month (usually end of August)
Where: China

3) Cheung Chau Bun Festival
Anything called a "Bun Festival" opens itself up for a second (or third) questioning look, and this ancient ritual lives up to its curious name. Held near Pak Tai Temple in Cheung Chau, Hong Kong, the creatively titled Cheung Chau Bun Festival (長洲太平清醮) coincides with the Buddha's birthday. Every year, three sixty-foot towers are constructed from bamboo around the temple and covered with buns (well, plastic ones since 2007). Men and women then engage in "bun snatching" – basically a race with each other to the top of the tower in order to grab hold of as many buns as possible. The more buns a contestant grabs, the more luck he or she has and can share with his or her family. This event occurs at midnight, and now involves harnesses and safety helmets after a nasty bun tower collapse in the late 1970's.

When: 8th day of the 4th moon (usually beginning of May)
Where: Cheung Chau, Hong Kong

4) Dog Eating Festival
Don't worry—this one was "officially" banned by the government in 2011 (which at least means that it isn't done in public anymore). Prior to the ban, for over 600 years, every October found residents in Qianxi, Zhejiang Province chopping up, cooking, and eating dogs in celebration of a Ming dynasty military victory. Apparently the army was able to successfully invade because they killed all of the area dogs so they could not bark to notify the enemy of the army's approach. The meat of the slaughtered dogs was then served at the celebration feast held shortly thereafter, and voila! It became a tradition. However, the invention of camera phones and the Internet made this festival much more public and, as a result, a huge outcry went up amongst animal lovers all over the world. This is one festival that not many people are sad to see go…

When: October (banned as of 2011)
Where: Qianxi, Zhejiang Province

5) Monihei Carnival
In what could possibly be one of the most entertaining festivals ever, residents of the Va Ethnic Autonomous Prefecture of Cangyuan in Yunnan Province celebrate the local discovery of a "miracle" herbal medicine that is the key to immortality. This medicine comes in the form of a powder, which was then mixed with water to form a paste and rubbed all over the body. As a symbolic replacement for that mysterious medicine, mud is now used to much the same effect—people run around smearing each other's bodies with mud and basically getting as filthy as possible. Mud on a child's face is considered a peace blessing, mud on an elderly person's face is considered a longevity blessing, and mud on a woman's face is considered a beauty blessing. Regardless, everyone seems to have a good time!

When: early May
Where: Va Ethnic Autonomous Prefecture of Cangyuan, Yunnan Province

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Keywords: Unusual celebrations in China unique Chinese festivals history of Chinese holidays