The Beginning of Summer (Chinese: 立夏，Li Xia) is the first solar term in summer. lt signifies the end of spring and the beginning of summer. Everything thrives during this solar term. Winter wheat in the north is blooming, while rapeseed in the south is about to ripen with pods. Regarding the date of the Beginning of Summer, it varies from May 5th, 6th or 7th each year depending on the movement of the sun. In 2021, the Beginning of Summer starts from 5th of May and ends on 19th of May.
Eating The Beginning of Summer Rice
The rice for this day used to be made from many kinds of colorful beans, like red beans, soybeans, black beans, green beans and mung beans mixed with white japonica rice, which means "a bumper grain harvest". Now the rice is simplified to be cooked with glutinous rice and broad beans, but the sweet taste and people's good wishes for a good harvest in it remain unchanged.
Egg Competition
On the Beginning of Summer, the old Chinese saying goes, "hanging an egg on children's chest can prevent them from getting summer diseases". Parents will prepare boiled eggs and put them in a knitted bag before hanging them on their child's chest. Children will gather and play a game called egg competition”, colliding each other's eggs in pairs, and the child with the last intact egg will claim ultimate victory, called "king of eggs" !
Weighing
There is a custom of weighting people's weight on the Beginning of Summer in many areas of China. Because the scorching summer will start from the Beginning of Summer, people are more likely to lose weight, which is a bad phenomenon they think. Therefore, people usually weigh down on to observe the health of the body. In ancient China, people will hang a big wooden scale at the entrance of the village, and set a basket or seat on the scale before kids are weighed one by one. Meanwhile, the person who is in charge of weighing will say lucky words for good omens.
Days Countdown to Chinese New Year
The current date is 29 April 2021
There are 278 days until 1 February 2021 (Chinese New Year)