This year, September 23rd is a special day in China — it’s the Autumn Equinox. It is the 16th of the 24 solar terms, and also the fourth solar term in autumn. People have many interesting customs on this day.

In the Lingnan area, the Hakka people like to eat “autumn vegetables”. These are called “Qiu Bi Hao”, a kind of wild amaranth (苋菜). On this day, everyone in the village picks these vegetables. They boil them into soup, and similar to the tradition of making “spring soup” in other seasons, they add fish slices to make what they call “autumn soup”.

Flying kites is another fun tradition, practiced in places like Beijing and Yangjiang (Guangdong Province). Children love flying kites, and even adults join in. There are many kinds — some are very big, even two meters tall, while others are small, just two or three feet high.

In some southern villages, people also send “autumn ox illustrations”. These are printed on red or yellow paper with the 24 solar terms and a farmer working in the fields. Then they go door to door giving them to neighbors.

These customs make this day full of joy and warmth.