Dongzhi Festival 2026: Tuesday, Dec. 22, the Solstice Minute in Asia and North America

Dongzhi, the Chinese winter solstice festival, falls on Tuesday, Dec. 22, 2026, according to the Hong Kong Observatory (HKO), which lists “Winter Solstice” on that date in its 2026 calendar table. The solstice itself is at 4:50 a.m. Hong Kong Time (HKT) that day. In the U.S. zones from Eastern to Pacific the same moment is Monday afternoon, Dec. 21, so the two dates describe one event. The table below converts it for each zone.

What time is the Dongzhi solstice in each time zone?

The U.S. Naval Observatory (USNO) gives the December 2026 solstice as 20:50 Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) on Dec. 21. The local times are our conversions from that figure.

Place	Local time of the solstice	Local date
Hong Kong, Beijing, Singapore (UTC+8)	4:50 a.m.	Tuesday, Dec. 22
Seoul, Tokyo (UTC+9)	5:50 a.m.	Tuesday, Dec. 22
London (Greenwich Mean Time, GMT)	8:50 p.m.	Monday, Dec. 21
U.S. Eastern Time (ET)	3:50 p.m.	Monday, Dec. 21
U.S. Central Time (CT)	2:50 p.m.	Monday, Dec. 21
U.S. Mountain Time (MT)	1:50 p.m.	Monday, Dec. 21
U.S. Pacific Time (PT)	12:50 p.m.	Monday, Dec. 21

HKO’s solar-terms table shows “22/12 | 04:50 | Winter Solstice” in Hong Kong Time, which matches the USNO moment plus eight hours.

Why is Dongzhi on Dec. 22 when the solstice is Dec. 21 in the U.S.?

Because 20:50 UTC on Monday is already Tuesday morning east of about UTC+3:10. HKO dates the term in Hong Kong time, so its calendar reads Tuesday, Dec. 22, and the lunar calendar table gives that day as the 14th of the lunar month. U.S. Eastern Time gets the same solstice at 3:50 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 21; our winter solstice 2026 story covers the U.S. view.

Do Korea and Japan give the same day?

Yes. The Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI) lists Dongji, its name for the solstice, on Dec. 22 at 5:50 a.m., and the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) lists Toji on Dec. 22 at 5:50 a.m. in Japan Standard Time. Both are UTC+9, one hour ahead of Hong Kong, so the clock times differ while the date is the same.

Is Dongzhi a public holiday in Hong Kong or Macau in 2026?

Winter Solstice is not on the list of general holidays for 2026 that the Hong Kong government published on May 16, 2025. The December entries there are Christmas Day on Friday, Dec. 25, and the first weekday after Christmas Day, Saturday, Dec. 26. Macau is different: the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) Government Portal lists “December 22 Tuesday Winter Solstice” among its 2026 public holidays, and its 2027 list has “December 22 Wednesday Winter Solstice”. This story has no official source on workplace or school arrangements for Dongzhi in Hong Kong, so it gives none, and Taiwan is not covered.

When is Dongzhi in 2027?

HKO’s 2027 calendar table lists Winter Solstice on Wednesday, Dec. 22, 2027, the 25th day of the lunar month. The 2027 solstice time is not confirmed in the sources used here, so it is left out. For other festivals next year, see our Lunar New Year 2027 story, which lists traditional festival dates.

Year	HKO calendar entry	Day of the lunar month
2026	Tuesday, Dec. 22	14th
2027	Wednesday, Dec. 22	25th

Print the Dongzhi 2026 planner

The one-page planner holds the Dec. 22 date with HKO’s own line, a short countdown and the 2027 date. Mark it on the December 2026 printable calendar or the printable weekly calendar. In Britain, English Heritage gives free access to Stonehenge the same morning, covered in our Stonehenge solstice story.