The 9th day of the 9th month in the Chinese calendar is the traditional Chongyang Festival or called Double Ninth Festival, which has a history of more than 2,000 years.

Because "double nine" has the same pronunciation as “long time” in Chinese, and number nine has a meaning of long life. The fall is also the golden season of the harvest, so “Double Ninth Festival” is considered to be a good day to bless the elderly with longevity. Therefore, Chongyang Festival is also known as the "Festival of the Elderly".

There are also some traditional customs of the Double Ninth Festival.

Climbing Mountains
The 9th day of the 9th month in the Chinese calendar, with clear autumn sky and bracing air, is a good time for sightseeing. So, people, both ancient and present, love to go sightseeing this month.

Apart from expelling bad luck and disasters, climbing mounting also indicates “climbing to a higher position”, and it is also an important reason why ancient people pay much attention about this custom. Another reason that climbing mountains are valued by people, especially by the elderly is that is has a meaning of “climb to a longevous life”. Also, for this reason people believe that climbing mountains can make people live a more longevous life.

Enjoying Chrysanthemum Flowers
Chrysanthemum originated in China and was recorded in some Chinese books as early as the 5th century B.C. Chrysanthemum blossom in the Chinese ninth lunar month have a beautiful name of “flower of longevity”.

Wearing Dogwood
The dogwood is a species of evergreen arbor. It is a heavy-scented plant whose fruit is edible and stock and leaves can be medicinal materials. They can expel insects, get rid of the humidity, help digestion and cure inner heat. And people believe that it can avoid evils spirits and misfortunes. It's also a symbol of missing loved ones.

Eating Double Ninth Cake
The Double Ninth cake is also known as “chrysanthemum cake” or “flower cake”. It dates back to the Zhou Dynasty. It is said that the cake was originally prepared after autumn harvests for farmers to have a taste of what was just in season, and it gradually grew into the present cake for people to eat on the Double Ninth Day.

Flying a paper crane
Paper crane is just like kite. According to our traditions and customs, flying kites usually happen at the Qing Ming Festival. But Tomb Sweeping Festival is during the rainy season which obviously is not suit for flying a kite, while Double Ninth Day owns clear autumn sky and crisp air making kite flying a best outdoor activity.

(By Yang Jiming/Qi Qian)