Beginning of Autumn

「睡起秋声无觅处，满阶梧桐月明中。」

Solar Term Begins: 2027-08-07 – 2027-08-09

Beginning of Autumn marks the opening of the autumn season, when the summer heat gradually begins to recede and the first hints of coolness arrive on the wind. As the old saying suggests, the fall of a single wutong leaf is enough to announce…

Temperature Trends

Summer heat fading away

Summer heat gradually weakens across most of China, although the “autumn tiger” can still exert considerable force, especially in the Yangtze basin and Jiangnan, where afternoon temperatures often remain high. The difference between daytime and nighttime temperatures begins to widen, and the weather slowly shifts from oppressive humidity toward a drier, more refreshing character.

Precipitation Patterns

First autumn rains

Overall precipitation declines across the country. The rainy season in North and Northeast China enters its final stage, summer drought continues in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze, autumn rains begin to emerge in western China, and typhoon activity remains active.

一

Cool Winds Arrive

After Beginning of Autumn, northerly winds become increasingly common, dispersing the stifling heat of high summer and bringing the first threads of coolness, especially noticeable in the mornings and evenings.

二

White Dew Descends

As the difference between daytime and nighttime temperatures grows, crystal-clear droplets of dew begin to condense on the ground and on grasses and trees in the early morning, announcing that the presence of autumn is becoming steadily stronger.

三

Cicadas chirp

As autumn coolness deepens, cicadas begin to produce lower, more plaintive calls from the branches, markedly different from the loud and insistent cries of high summer; their changing song is one of nature’s sensitive responses to the turn of the season.

Temperature Trends

First signs of spring

Temperatures begin a steady recovery from their winter low. Although mornings and evenings remain cold, daylight hours lengthen noticeably, the midday sun starts to bring genuine warmth, snow and ice begin to melt, and frozen soil starts to thaw, quietly sounding the opening notes of spring. The difference between day and night temperatures gradually widens as the weather shifts from dry cold toward a milder and more humid character.

Precipitation Patterns

Spring rain gradually increasing

The dry, low-rainfall conditions of winter gradually give way to the moisture of spring, with both the frequency and amount of precipitation beginning to increase slowly and some regions showing the first signs of persistent spring rain. Water vapor in the air rises, and the earth awakens from its winter dryness, accumulating the moisture necessary for the return of life.

一

East Wind Thaws the Ice

Warm spring winds blow from the ocean toward the continent, carrying moist air; the land begins to thaw, and river ice gradually melts away, formally announcing the end of winter’s frozen season.

二

Hibernating Insects Begin to Stir

Hibernating insects sense that the earth is warming and the soil loosening, and begin to awaken from dormancy, stirring faintly beneath the ground as they prepare to resume the activities of a new year of life.

三

Fish rise beneath the ice

The ice covering rivers and lakes has not yet completely disappeared, but fish below the surface already swim eagerly upward, seeming almost to carry the remaining ice upon their backs; this is one of the most characteristic phenological images of early spring.

Temperature Trends

Dry-wet reversal

In tropical regions of the Northern Hemisphere—such as Southeast Asia, India, and northern Africa—the wet season clearly begins to retreat, with both the frequency and intensity of rainfall continuing to decline and signs of the dry season becoming increasingly evident. In tropical regions of the Southern Hemisphere—such as central Africa and northern South America—the wet season opens fully, while the southwest monsoon gradually establishes itself across the Indian Ocean and South Atlantic and the Intertropical Convergence Zone shifts southward, bringing abundant rainfall. The global tropical pattern of wet and dry conditions completes its annual reversal: the Northern Hemisphere shifts from wet toward dry, while the Southern Hemisphere shifts from dry toward wet.

Precipitation Patterns

Wet season begins

Rainfall decreases significantly across tropical regions of the Northern Hemisphere—including Southeast Asia, India, and northern Africa—as the wet season enters its final stage. In tropical regions of the Southern Hemisphere—including central Africa and northern South America—the wet season opens fully and precipitation increases markedly.

一

Monsoon shifts direction

Global tropical atmospheric circulation undergoes a fundamental adjustment, with the Intertropical Convergence Zone shifting substantially southward and the signals of a dry season in the Northern Hemisphere and a wet season in the Southern Hemisphere becoming established on a global scale.

二

Greenery returns

Nourished by the rains of the wet season, dry grasslands across the tropical Southern Hemisphere rapidly turn green again, deciduous trees send out new shoots, and the land reclothes itself in green at astonishing speed.

三

Dry season sets in

Rainfall continues to decrease across tropical regions of the Northern Hemisphere, humidity falls, sunlight becomes more intense, and the features of the dry season grow increasingly distinct as vegetation shifts into drought-adaptation mode.

Solar-Term Farming

Farm with the Seasons · Work with Nature

Hover to Explore Farming Regions

Middle and Lower Yangtze

Northeast China

Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Eastern Inner Mongolia

Maize Rice Soybean

Farming Focus for This Solar Term

Spring maize enters grain filling, rice moves into heading and flower…

Farming Advice

Complete autumn tillage pro…
Service farm machinery and …

Northwest China

Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, Qinghai, Xinjiang

Wheat Maize Cotton

Farming Focus for This Solar Term

Spring wheat enters harvest, cotton begins boll opening, summer maize…

Farming Advice

Roll winter wheat fields to…
Apply winter irrigation in …

North China

Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shanxi, Shandong, Henan

Wheat Maize Peanut

Farming Focus for This Solar Term

Summer maize enters tasseling and silking, summer soybeans reach flow…

Farming Advice

Control excessive winter-wh…
Clear drainage ditches in r…

Middle and Lower Yangtze

Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan

Rice Rapeseed Tea

Farming Focus for This Solar Term

Single-season mid-season rice enters heading and flowering, late rice…

Farming Advice

Plough promptly after the l…
Clear drainage ditches in r…

Southwest China

Sichuan, Chongqing, Guizhou, Yunnan, Tibet

Rice Maize Tea Flue-Cured Tobacco

Farming Focus for This Solar Term

Mid-season rice enters grain filling, flue-cured tobacco harvesting m…

Farming Advice

Check winter-wheat emergenc…
Top-dress rapeseed seedling…

South China & Taiwan (China)

Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Fujian, Taiwan (China)

Rice Sugarcane Tropical Fruit

Farming Focus for This Solar Term

Late rice enters peak tillering, tropical fruit harvesting reaches it…

Farming Advice

Harvest late rice during cl…
Fertilise and earth up suga…

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Seasonal Delicacies

Eat with the Seasons · Nothing Out of Season

Seasonal Delicacies

Beginning of Autumn · Flavors of the Season

Seasonal Tastes · A Guide to Eating with the Seasons

Putting on Autumn Weight — Stewed Meat

Biting Autumn — Eating Autumn Melons

Cooling Cake

Autumn Peach

Longan — Fuyuan

Dumplings — “Seizing Autumn Weight”

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Traditional Customs

When Rites Fade, Seek Them Among the People · Old Ways Still Endure

Traditional Customs

Beginning of Autumn · Everyday Traditions

Seasonal Rites · Everyday Traditions

Food custom

Putting on Autumn Weight

Puttingonautumnweightisthemostrepres…

Agricultural cus

Sun-Drying the Autumn Harvest

Sun-dryingtheautumnharvestisadistinc…

Official ceremon

Announcing Autumn

InancientChina,BeginningofAutumnwasa…

Decorative and b

Wearing Catalpa Leaves

WearingcatalpaleavesisatraditionalBe…

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Solar-Term Poetry

Poetry · The Heart of Heaven and Earth

「秋夕」

[Tang Dynasty] · Du Mu

银烛秋光冷画屏，轻罗小扇扑流萤。

天阶夜色凉如水，坐看牵牛织女星。

Modern Translation

The silvery candlelight shines upon a painted screen steeped in the coolness of autumn. With a small fan of light gauze in hand, she brushes at drifting fireflies. On the palace steps, the night is cool as water; she sits alone, gazing for a long while at the stars of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl.

In-Depth Commentary

This seven-character quatrain writes the loneliness of a palace woman on an autumn night and is a classic depiction of the first stirring of autumn after Beginning of Autumn. “银烛秋光冷画屏” uses the character “冷”, “cold,” to govern the mood of the whole poem: candlelight, autumn light, and painted screen are placed together to create the chill of the autumn night. “轻罗小扇扑流萤” describes the palace woman using her light silk fan to catch fireflies; the appearance of fireflies is itself a seasonal sign of the transition from summer to autumn. The final two lines, “天阶夜色凉如水，坐看牵牛织女星”, turn coolness into a tactile image through “凉如水”, “cool as water.” The two characters “坐看”, “sitting and watching,” convey the long duration of her gaze. She looks toward the Cowherd and Weaver Girl not only to pass the long night, but also to let their mythic love throw her own abandonment and loneliness into sharper relief. Not a single character explicitly writes sorrow, yet sorrow is present everywhere, restrained and deeply suggestive.

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Beginning of Autumn

Solar-Term Farming

Northeast China

Farming Focus for This Solar Term

Farming Advice

Northwest China

Farming Focus for This Solar Term

Farming Advice

North China

Farming Focus for This Solar Term

Farming Advice

Middle and Lower Yangtze

Farming Focus for This Solar Term

Farming Advice

Southwest China

Farming Focus for This Solar Term

Farming Advice

South China & Taiwan (China)

Farming Focus for This Solar Term

Farming Advice

Seasonal Delicacies

Seasonal Tastes · A Guide to Eating with the Seasons

Traditional Customs

Seasonal Rites · Everyday Traditions

Solar-Term Poetry

「秋夕」

Modern Translation

In-Depth Commentary

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