Double Ninth Festival
If you’ll be in China next month, you might want to catch the Double Ninth Festival, celebrated next on October 21, 2015.
Called the Chongyang Festival, it is held on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month, and is therefore also called the Double Ninth Festival.
On this traditional Chinese holiday, people honor ancient customs with cake and “tall things”, since the word “gao” (for cake) is pronounced the same as “gao” for tall or height.
Double Ninth Cakes are served on this holiday, and people also climb mountains or move to higher ground to ward off danger and sickness. They also drink chrysanthemum wine or tea (pictured), which is thought to bring good health.