Chongyang Festival

...to drink wine infused with chrysanthemum petals...Chongyang is a double nine holiday. It falls on the 9th day of the ninth month according to the lunar calendar. In ancient times, this day was considered happy.

On this day, the people retain the custom of climbing the mountain (this is called dengao - to climb up), enjoy cakes, drink wine infused with petals of chrysanthemums and admire these flowers. Climbing the mountains during the holiday "Chunyang" is a kind of ritual, the symbolic purpose of which is to get rid of disasters and hardships, a plea for happiness.

During the Chongyang holiday, festive cakes made of wheat or rice flour were baked. The cakes were decorated with apricot seeds, dates, chestnuts, melon seeds, raisins, nuts.

Since the late 80s, the Chongyang holiday has become a significant date for the elderly. Every year on this day, various events in honor of the elderly are held throughout the country, they are invited to solemn meetings and amateur art shows. In many Chinese families, younger family members honor their elderly relatives by giving them gifts.