Clickonthebluewordtofollowus!
Nextstop,MandarinMorning
Wednesdaythe5thofMaymarksLixia(立夏lìxià),orthe“StartofSummer”inEnglish.ItistheseventhsolartermintheChineselunarcalendar,withthesunmovingtothecelestiallongitudeof45degreesonthisday.InChinese,thecharacter“li(立)”means“begin”,soLixiaisalsothefirstsolartermthatkicksoffthehotsummerdaysinChina.
ThissolartermwasestablishedattheendoftheWarringStatesperiod(BC–BC).ChinesepeopleusuallyregardLixiaasanimportantperiodfromwhichthetemperaturerisesandsummerisupon,withmorerainandthunder,andmoreabundantcrops.
Headingtowardstheprimeoftheyear
FarmersinthesouthernpartofChinamightbetoobusytocelebratethearrivalofthesummer,asthisisthebesttimeoftheyeartoplanttheearlyrice.ThereareabunchofancientChineseidiomswarningpeopleofthesevereconsequencesthat