Today is the Hungry Ghost Festival which is celebrated on the 15th day of the seventh lunar month in China. The souls of the dead are supposed to return during the seventh month so this is a day in which offerings to ancestors are made, lanterns floated on rivers for the departed, incense and paper offerings, some of them very elaborate burnt for the use of the dead.
Here is how Hungry Ghost Festival is celebrated in Singapore where I live.
处暑(Chushu End of Heat) is the 14th solar term and marks the arrival of autumnal weather. Fishermen in Zhejiang celebrate the beginning of the fishing season with a fishing festival. Herbal teas are drunk and duck is eaten across China to dispel heat.In Fuzhou, longans are eaten with porridge for nourishing good health.
Today is 七夕 Qixi Festival which is often described as “China’s Valentine Day”. As its name suggests, it is held on the seventh day of the seventh month of the Chinese calendar. Since it is a festival celebrated by young women, it’s also called 女儿节 or Girls’ Festival. This festival has also spread to neighboring countries and is known as Tanabata in Japan.The story of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl (identified with the stars Altair and Vega) is associated with this festival.
立秋(Liqiu) “Beginning of Autumn” is the 13th of the 24 solar terms. It signifies the end of summer and the arrival of autumn though many parts of China will take time to cool down. Leaves fall from the Chinese parasol tree and people eat watermelons to dispel the heat from summer (a habit known as 啃秋 or “biting the autumn”). The mountainous regions of Hunan, Jiangxi and Anhui have the picturesque custom of 晒秋(drying the autumn harvest in the sun) at their homes due to the lack of level land.