Chongqing, 7 Aug (Xinhua) -- Li Qiu is the thirteenth of the twenty-four solar terms. Liqiu is not only a festival, but also an important festival of the year, and the colorful folk customs reflect people's emphasis on Liqiu.
Tang Zhiqiang, director of the Agricultural History Research Department of the China Agricultural Museum and deputy director of the Twenty-Four Solar Terms Research Center, introduced that autumn means that the temperature changes from hot to cool, a variety of crops begin to mature, and busy labor is about to begin. There is a folk custom of "sticking autumn fat" to make up for the weight lost due to the summer heat, which is still popular in north China to northeast China. "Sticking autumn fat" is mainly based on meat paste, and many long-established catering brands will launch various meat delicacies before the autumn to meet the needs of the people.
Before and after the autumn, there are also food customs such as "nibbling on autumn" and "eating cool cakes". According to relevant records: "The day before the autumn, eat watermelon, called eating autumn." "It means to bite the watermelon, welcome the arrival of autumn, and get rid of the summer heat." In Jinhua, Zhejiang Province, people boil sweet potato starch into a soup, leave it overnight, and set it into whole pieces the next morning. The "cool cake" made in this way looks like a round and clear piece of white jade, cut into small pieces, sprinkled with sugar, vinegar and mint, and has a cool, sweet and sour appetizer.
The Miao people in western Hunan will wear costumes to "catch autumn" when autumn is established, and people will gather in groups on the traditional autumn slopes to celebrate the upcoming harvest by playing swings, blowing pipes, singing and dancing. The highlight of the Yi people's autumn is bullfighting, that is, using yellow bulls to fight each other before the autumn harvest, setting off the festive atmosphere and heralding the auspicious year.
"One wait for the cool breeze to arrive, the second wait for the white dew, and the third wait for the cold cicadas to chirp." This elaborates on the phenological phenomena of autumn. However, the continent is vast, and not all regions use autumn as the dividing point from hot to cool. Cool breezes arrive in parts of the north, but the heat has not yet subsided nationwide. The weather forecast for the week after the autumn shows that Chongqing will also be in a state of scorching sunshine and hot and humid steaming.
"Autumn shows a climate change trend of autumn approaching, but autumn in the meteorological sense is far from coming, and the three-volt day is not over." Tang Zhiqiang introduced.
Tang Zhiqiang suggested that in order to comply with the changes in the seasons, it is not advisable to increase clothes too much and prematurely after the autumn, and appropriate "autumn freezing" will help exercise cold tolerance. Go to bed early and get up early, proper morning exercise is also beneficial to the body.
Autumn is a critical period for the fruit of some crops on the mainland. Tang Zhiqiang said that crops also need to be "pasted with autumn fat", that is, to seize the opportunity to apply ear fertilizer. At the same time, Liqiu is also an important period for cotton to protect peaches and catch autumn peaches.
When the summer is ushered in autumn, the fields are filled with the joy of harvesting in the grain. Slow down, take a bite of the melon, catch an autumn season, and savor this harvest season. (Photo: Liu Liu, Tang Yi; Poster Maker: He Qian)
Source: Xinhua News Agency