Illustration: Xiong Xiaoying

May 5 marked the Start of Summer, or Lixa, the seventh of the 24 Solar Terms of the traditional Chinese calendar. At 8:10 am on Sunday, when sunlight reached an angel of 45 degrees to the Earth, the world ushered in the Start of the Summer. From this point till May 19, the dense green and colorful aroma of flowers will dominate China. 

Originating at the end of the Warring States Period (475BC-221BC), the solar term is a crucial time for the harvest of summer crops such as wheat and canola.

On this occasion, people enjoy various folk customs passed down from generation to generation. Some of these activities have become major parts of Chinese culture. 

When it comes to seasonal diets, some people from northern China prefer noodles. This is a time for praying for good weather for crops and a bumper harvest for the year. 

In southern China, some people in Huizhou, East China's Anhui Province, still keep their routine of enjoying fried noodles. 

The Start of Summer marks the transition from spring to summer, a time when temperatures increase and thunderstorms become more frequent across the country as the days become longer. It is the perfect time to harvest tea leaves. People enjoy other activities including cooking "five-colored rice," tasting freshly harvested vegetables and holding egg playing competitions. 

Celebrating summer, people steam red beans, yellow split peas and other colorful beans into five-colored rice. 

People living along Taihu Lake tend to enjoy a diet of fresh vegetables such as broad beans, bamboo shoots and green plums. 

Children wear pouches containing boiled eggs as a folk custom to keep away summer diseases. In school, they enjoy egg competitions. They compete by colliding each other's eggs together and those who keep their egg unbroken triumph. 

During the summer, some children might sleep longer hours and feel under the weather, so some parents make bracelet with five-colored threads for their children as a means of praying for their good health. 

Ancient Chinese people associate the Start of the Summer with three good omens: the chirping of mole crickets and grasshoppers, the emergence of earthworms and gourds growing on the vine.