The Hungry Ghost Festival—also known as Zhongyuan Festival (中元节)—is a traditional Chinese holiday rooted in Taoist and Buddhist beliefs, observed on the 15th day of the seventh lunar month. It is a time when the boundary between the living and the dead is believed to be most permeable, allowing spirits to return to the world of the living. Families honor and appease these wandering spirits—especially their ancestors—through offerings of food, incense, joss paper, and ritual ceremonies.