Category: Chinese customs

When Autumn Starts There is a custom to “touch the autumn” in the northern part of Yancheng, Jiangsu Province. On the eve of the Start of Autumn, folks can touch and take all kinds of fruits as they like for free in private or public gardens, and the owners will not be angry no matter how much they lose.

“Indian summer” (Autumn Tiger in Chinese) refers to the short period of hot weather after the Start of Autumn, typically in late August or early September, lasting for approximately 7 to 15 days.

To farmers the Autumn Begins is especially important. It is said that if it thunders on the day of the Autumn Begins, corps will fail in winter. If it is sunny on the day of the Autumn Begins, the weather will be favorable and the crops will do well. If northern wind blows before Autumn Begins, it will probably rain afterwards. If northern wind blows after Autumn Begins, there will most probably be a winter drought. In the ancient feudalist society of China, the emperor, accompanied by his officials, would hold an autumn welcoming ceremony on the day of the Autumn Begins. Autumn is also the season for war affairs. Thus, you can tell how important the weather on the day of Autumn Begins is.

Every year Autumn Begins falls on the 7th or 8th of August, when the sun reaches the longitude of 135°. Autumn Begins (Liqiu in Chinese) is one of the 24 solar terms which reflects the withdrawal of summer and the beginning of autumn.

Autumn Begins Introduction
“Autumn Begin” is the 13th solar term in the 24 solar terms. It’s on August 8 or 9 everyyear meaning the beginning of the fall. When it comes to this season, the leaves of thefirmiana tree start to fall, thus there is a saying of “One leave falls, autumn arrives.”When the sun reaches the celestial longitude of 135 degrees, the summer is passingaway and the weather turns cold gradually. People can feel the wind is getting cool andsee fogs in the morning sometimes. It’s also a season of harvest.

Beijing-based Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) is currently the world's largest bank (in terms of market capitalization and customer deposits). Previously a state-owned enterprise, ICBC is doing well trading simultaneously on the Hong Kong and Shanghai exchanges. In fact, when ICBC launched it's IPO in October 2006, it broke records as the worlds largest IPO at the time.

Also known as "harmonica" or "bamboo reed", Chinese mouth organ is a folk musical instrument enjoyed a long history. It comes in various shapes and sizes. The instrument is popular among a dozen or so ethnic groups, such as Yi, Lahu, Naxi, Lisu, Dai and Han. A Chinese mouth organ can be played as a solo, unison or ensemble performance. It also provides ideal accompaniment to singing and dancing. The instrument plays an important part in people's life and work.

This growing motor company has a reputation at home for creating good-value automobiles and is the country's leading producer of sport-utility vehicles and trucks. Although in China car ownership is still low by global standards (one car for every 17 people), Great Wall Motor Corp. is growing domestically and internationally, exporting more and more vehicles to Southeast Asia and the Middle East; so much so that it announced plans to build plants in North Africa, Southeast Asia, and North America by 2015.