春分(chunfen) Spring Equinox 21 March 2018

Today is the Spring Equinox in China, one of the twenty four solar terms marking the middle of the Spring season.
It has been celebrated in China for 4000 years. Charming customs on this day include the flying of kites, attempting to stand eggs on end (which is supposed to be easier to do on this day), picking wild spring vegetables and boiling them with fish fillets to eat, sending lucky pictures of cows printed on yellow or red paper to other households.

People would also eat tangyuan and set by some tangyuan without fillings and put them out in the fields on bamboo sticks for sparrows to eat so that they won’t eat the crops. This is called  “粘雀子嘴” or sticking the sparrows’ mouths.