What does Chang Xia do?

In some places in southern China, beans such as red beans, soybeans, black beans, peas and mung beans will be cooked with white japonica rice into five-color rice, commonly known as long summer rice. In most areas in the north and a few areas in the south, there is a custom of eating sesame cakes in the long summer, which is said to have been handed down from the Yuan Dynasty. In Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Chang Xia will borrow rice and dates from neighbors and cook porridge for everyone. Jiangxi also has the custom of drinking tea in the long summer. The locals believe that if you don't drink long summer tea, you will suffer all summer. On the day of long summer, women will gather seven kinds of tea to cook and drink together.

There are three waiting periods in the long summer, one is the sound of cockroaches, the other is the appearance of earthworms, and the third is the birth of king melons. It is said that in this solar term, the first thing you hear is the chirping of salamanders in the field, and then you can see earthworms digging in the soil, and then the vines of the king melon begin to climb and grow rapidly. At this time, frogs began to clamor for the coming of summer, earthworms were busy helping farmers to loosen the soil, and wild vegetables on rural ridges were also scrambling to be dug up. The word "summer" in "long summer" means "big", which means that the plants sown in spring have grown upright. At a deeper level, the 24 solar terms reflect the change of "Qi" in the four seasons, and the change of Qi is related to the change of natural rhythm. In the long summer, the yang is getting longer and longer, and everything grows sturdily with the rise of the yang. In ancient times, people attached great importance to the customs and habits of long summer. On this day of long summer, ancient people held ceremonies to welcome summer.