[Explanation] July 23 is the great heat of the twenty-four solar terms.
As the saying goes, "Small heat is not too hot, but great heat is full of days." Great heat is the last solar term in summer and the hottest season of the year.
Because of this, since ancient times, the customs of the Great Heat have been related to eliminating summer and relieving heat.
For example, the must-have iced drinks in summer have actually been around for a long time.
[Concurrent] Tang Zhiqiang, Secretary General of the Twenty-Four Solar Terms Protection and Inheritance Alliance
The first is to relieve heat and thirst, then there are many drinks, such as drinking Fu tea, which is composed of more than 10 Chinese herbal medicines such as honeysuckle, prunella, licorice, etc. It has the effect of cooling and dispelling heat.
For example, in the Guangdong area, people eat fairy grass, it is said that eating fairy grass in the great heat will live like a fairy and will not grow old.
For example, Beijing has sour plum soup.
Then snowflake cheese, take out the ice cubes stored in winter and smash it into pieces, then add honey, plum juice, and preserved fruit, and then drink it together, it is called snowflake cheese.
[Explanation] The big heat season will also usher in the middle of the summer. At this time, the heat is in full swing. In order to avoid the lack of diet and malnutrition caused by the bitter summer, the big heat also has the custom of being close to the fat.
[Concurrent] Tang Zhiqiang, Secretary General of the Twenty-Four Solar Terms Protection and Inheritance Alliance
People usually eat some meat and egg pasta when they go into abstinence to supplement nutrition for the body.
For example, there is Fuyang Festival in Xuzhou, which is actually eating mutton. Then there is the custom of eating summer sheep in Zaozhuang, Shandong, and then Putian, Fujian has the custom of eating lychee, mutton and rice grains to overcome the heat. Gold and silver hooves are pig trotters.
In the Beijing area, there are Toufu dumplings, Erfu noodles, and Sanfu pancakes with eggs.
[Explanation] Although the heat is hot, the ancients could live elegantly.
When the lotus flowers are in full bloom, it is a very popular custom in ancient times to enjoy lotus flowers on a boat and have a drinking party.
[Concurrent] Tang Zhiqiang, Secretary General of the Twenty-Four Solar Terms Protection and Inheritance Alliance
We Chinese people have had this custom of viewing lotus on a summer day since ancient times, so this poet wrote that the lotus leaves are infinitely green in the sky, and the lotus is different in the sun. It is the most beautiful scenery in midsummer to take a cruise to appreciate the lotus. , both cool and beautiful.
For example, Beijing Shichahai, Hangzhou West Lake, Nanjing Xuanwu Lake, Mochou Lake, etc., have historically been the resorts for viewing lotus in midsummer.
There are also some such as sending the Great Summer Boat. This is the custom of the people in Taizhou, Zhejiang. They use the Great Summer Boat to send the five saints out to sea, and send the summer boat to keep the people safe.
There are also fighting crickets. During the great summer, the village crickets are the most numerous and the loudest sound. The male crickets are very fighting.
During the Great Heat, we say that we eat radish in winter and ginger in summer, then cut the ginger into slices and take it to the sun. After exposure, it is especially effective for people with wind-cold, or people with cold stomachs.
Then burn incense, that is, people burn incense and pray for good luck in Fu season.
At the same time, burning incense actually has aromatherapy, roasting specific acupoints to treat more stubborn diseases, and chronic diseases are effective.
Reporter Wang Shibo reports from Beijing
Responsible editor: [Song Fangcan]