The 14th of the 24 solar terms in the Chinese lunar calendar, end of heat, or chushu in pinyin Chinese, falls on August 22.
Chushu is followed by beginning of autumn, or liqiu when the heat retreats and the cool stages a comeback.
(Illustration: Jian Shan, Beijing International Design Week)
This year chushu runs from August 22 to September 6. Chushu signifies cooler weather and plentiful harvests, traditionally offering an opportunity for an autumn excursion to enjoy more pleasant scenery.
Here are some facts you might not know about chushu:
Admiring autumn clouds
(Photo: Xinhua)
A cool breeze replaces the hot wind. Lush tree leaves turn red and gold. Nature ushers in the most beautiful season for an outing. A walking tour offers a chance to admire the clearer skies and better-looking clouds of chushu. Unlike the thick, dense clouds of summer, dawn and dusk during chushu usher in more free-floating technicolor smatterings.
Eating duck meat
Quanjude restaurant's Peking roast duck resembles a peony blossom. (Photo: China Daily)
An old saying goes, “People tend to feel sleepy in spring, doze in summer and feel tired in autumn.” Chinese people susceptible to dry heat often turn to nutritional solutions in whch duck gets top billing. Peking duck is said to benefit the lung and stomach. In Guangdong Province, the Cantonese reach for bitter or tart herbal teas.
Water lanterns
Lanterns float. (Photo: People’s Daily)
Zhongyuan Festival, or Ghost Festival, falls on the 15th day of the seventh lunar month, close to the end of the End of Heat. The most widespread folk custom related to Zhongyuan Festival is the release of lotus-shaped water lanterns. On the night of the festival, people float the lanterns with lit candles on the river to express grief for lost loved ones.
Fishing season festival
The 2020 Zhanjiang Fishing Season Festival opens. (Photo: Zhanjiang Daily)
The beginning of chushu marks the new fishing season when warmer sea temperatures provide more favorable conditions for bagging bigger fish and shrimp. An array of folk activities kick off in coastal areas to pray for a good catch and also for the fishermen out at sea. Initiated in 1998, The annual festival in the Guangdong Province city of Zhanjiang attracts tourists to share in a seafood feast and attend cultural and economic activities.
(Compiled by Long Wei)