Start of Autumn

Start of Autumn

In China ,there are 24 traditional solar terms divided by Chinese lunar calendar . Start of Autumn is the 13^th solar term ,it begins this year on August 8, 2019 and ends on August 23.

Start of Autumn reflects the end of Summer and the beginning of autumn. The fruitful season is approaching .

The 24 solar terms were created thousands of years ago to guide the agricultural production. But today they are still useful to guide people's living through special food ,cultural ceremonies

 and even health living tips that correspond with each term.

The flowing are the things you should know about Start of Autumn.

Autumn Tiger 

Although Start of Autumn means the beginning of Autumn ,but it is not the end of hot weather . The period of hot days will still last for 30 days after Start of Autumn .it is called "Autumn Tiger”or“Indian Summer".

It even will be more hot than summer days during the day ,but at night it will turn cool .

Gathering crops

Start of Autumn is a big solar term for farmers  since Autumn is a harvest season-time to gather crops. There is a saying :”if it rains on the day of the Start of Autumn,a good harvest is expected.”

Eating  Peaches

People eat  peaches on this day , keeping peach stones until the eve of New Year and thrown them into stove ,bruned into ash. People believe that in this way the plagues can be driven away for the whole year .

Eating  dumplings

In Shandong province,people make dumplings on this day ,senior members of a family stand in the middle of the hall and worship a bowl of cereal,praying for the harvest , after that all the members of the family eat dumpings together happily.

Eating red beans

People in Zhejiang province believe that eating 7-14 red beans with well water facing west will drive dysentery away during the autumn.

Touching Autumn

In the northern parts of China , on the eve of this day ,people can touch and take for free all kinds of fruit -watermelon,cantaloupe ,papaya and all the other melon as they like in private or public gardens , the owners will not be angry no matter how many they lost ,on the contrary some of them  leave their  mellow fruits in the field on purpose for the guests.