During China’s Ghost Festival, swimming is traditionally avoided because of feared water spirits.
The Ghost Festival, also called the Hungry Ghost Festival or Zhongyuan Festival, is observed on the 15th day of the seventh month in the traditional Chinese calendar. Folk belief holds that hungry ghosts and other spirits may roam the human world during this period.
Swimming is especially associated with danger because drowning deaths are sometimes folklorically attributed to water ghosts seeking a living person to replace them. This belief is part of traditional religious culture, not a scientifically established cause of accidents.
The festival is also linked with offerings of food, burning incense, and burning joss paper for ancestors and wandering spirits. It is distinct from Qingming Festival, which focuses more specifically on honoring family ancestors at their graves.