Special Food of ChongYang/double ninth festival
On Double Ninth Festival. people would like to drink chrysanthemum wine and have chrysanthemum cakes.
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The chrysanthemum is a plant often used as a Chinese herbal medicine. People in ancient times believed that. in addition to detoxifcation. chrysanthemum could drive away evil spirits and prevent one from getting a chill in late autumn. So. making and drinking chrysanthemum could be traced back many centuries. and it became the traditional food on Double Ninth Festival. to avoid evil spirits and misfortunes. Besides. the Chinese word for wine is Jiu. a homonym of the Chinese word for long. symbolizing longevity.
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Another special food for this festival is chrysanthemum cakes. The Chinese word for cake is Gao. a homonym of the Chinese word for high. symbolizing progress and promotion at work and in daily life and improvement in life year by year. In addition. mountains are high. so eating cakes can take the place of going for a climb -- by a stretch of the imagination.
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The dogwood is a plant with a strong fragrance. often used as a Chinese herbal medicine. People in ancient times believed it could drive away evil spirits and prevent one from getting a chill in late autumn. But the custom of carrying a spray of dogwood on the Double Ninth Festival is slowly dying out and many people. especially young people in the cities. do not even know what dogwood looks like.
Since nine is the highest odd digit. people take two of them together to signify longevity. Therefore. the ninth day of the ninth month has become a special day for people to pay their respects to the elderly and a day for the elderly to enjoy themselves. It has also been declared China Day for the Elderly.
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