beginning of summer in banshan area
lixia, or beginning of summer, is the seventh solar term on chinese lunar calendar. people living in banshan area, hangzhou province, always arrange custom activities to welcome the new season.
on the day, many homes cook black glutinous rice preventing people from suffering from sunstroke and getting biten by insects and mosquitos in summer. the rice is colored black because it is cooked with the juice of wild shrub leaves. banshan people also eat pea which is believed to be good for teeth. the ancient custom of “chengren”, or weigh people, originated in the three kingdoms period (220-280) and people weigh themselves with big weigh arms.
there is also a custom called “wild summer rice”. young people flock to beg for rice and meat from neighbors and collect peas and bamboo shoots from the field. then, in the open air, they set up pots and stoves to cook food. on the day people eat twelve kinds of foods, including cherry, preserved meat and roasted goose.
lixia custom in banshan was included in the “catalogue of representative items of intangible heritage culture items of zhejiang province” in 2009 and as a sub item of “24 solar terms”, in the masterpieces of the intangible heritage of humanity by unesco in 2016.
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