Solar Terms
Start of Autumn
云天收夏色
木叶动秋声
Autumn
Start of Autumn, also known as “Liqiu” in Chinese, is the 13th of the 24 solar terms in traditional Chinese calendar, which falls on Aug. 7 this year. Although Liqiu indicates the advent of autumn, hot weather will still linger around for about 30 days, which is known as “Autumn Tiger”. Because of decreasing precipitation, it is even more sweltering during this period than before. Interestingly, it seems to be the “laziest” solar term according to the tradition.
01
Fleshing out in autumn
贴秋膘
To many, summer means the loss of appetite as well as weight. As the first day of autumn comes, people will weigh themselves and compare their weight to what it was at the Start of Summer. If you have lost weight during the summer, remember to flesh out by eating delicious food after the arrival of autumn.
02
Eating the autumn
咬秋
In the past, people used to eat seasonal fruit especially watermelon on the day of Liqiu in that there will be fewer and fewer watermelons with the temperature becoming cooler. Moreover, in Hangzhou, people prefer to eat peaches on this day and will keep the peach stones until New Year's Eve in a gesture to prevent plagues for the whole year.
03
Lying down in autumn
躺秋
In tradition, people will choose a shady place to lie down on the first day of Start of Autumn, indicating that summer along with the sweltering weather is about to pass. It is the right time to have a short rest and get prepared for the coming harvest.
SEUers, do you feel like exhausted in the sweltering weather? What about eating, lying down and fleshing out on this first day of autumn?
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Written by Chen Xuerong
Proofread by Eric Song, Melody Zhang
Edited by Sha Lu
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