Time to chill out

The festival in Xialei township in Daxin county is particularly grand. It lasts for three days and is divided into "head descent", "formal descent" and "tail descent". People eat glutinous rice balls, have duck and burn incense to ancestors to herald a prosperous year.

On the first day, every family makes rice dumplings and cakes for relatives and friends. Street stalls are set up early in the morning, and all manners of production and living utensils are up for sale. The second day is devoted to worships and parades. In the evening, it is a time for a variety of cultural and entertainment activities. A stage is set up in the open space of the square, and a local opera is performed for the seniors, while the young people sing folk songs elsewhere. Singing in antiphonal style continues until the end of the third day. At the same time, a series of traditional cultural and sports events such as rock-climbing competitions, basketball, tug-of-war, Zhuang cockfighting, stilt-walking and spinning tops are held.

However, a custom on Frost's Descent that was popular in Jiangsu province before the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) is little known today. In ancient times, Start of Spring was the day to "start the army", and Frost's Descent was the day to "withdraw the army". On this day, the local garrison would hold an elaborate closing ceremony termed "fighting frost fall". At dawn, the general would lead the officers and soldiers in full armor to salute the flag, and then set off muskets and artillery. The surroundings were crowded with spectators, and people judged the volume of the guns to predict the abundance of food in the coming year. It is said that after the ceremony, thieves and bandits did not dare to cause havoc, and even the god in charge of frost in heaven did not dare to put frost on the crops.

For Frost's Descent, the ancient Chinese recorded three most interesting phenomena of the solar term: The jackal will display the prey it has captured before eating it; the leaves on the ground will wither and fall and dormant insects will stay still in the cave and go into hibernation.

Frost's Descent is a term that is closely related to the climate, phenology and products of the season, and it reflects people's wisdom and desire for peace and health to live in harmony with nature.