Monday marks the start of the ninth Chinese solar term "Mangzhong," or "Grain in Ear." Literally meaning "busy planting," the term sets off a busy season for farmers.

"Mangzhong is the season to harvest wheat in the Yellow River basin in China. It is a busy period of harvesting summer wheat and planting rice at the same time," said Bi Xuling, director of research on folk customs and intangible cultural heritage at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences.

This period sees longest hours of sunshine in the year along with warm and humid ocean air, which brings frequent rainfall, providing much-needed heat and water for summer crops.

At this stage, when it is sunny, the weather is as hot as fire, and when it rains, it rains heavily. Farmers must harvest wheat while the sun shines as rain could spoil the crop.

However, the rainy spells are good for rice, which must be planted before the showers fade away. 

Moreover, an ancient but almost-extinct ritual is performed during this term: the worship of the Flower God.

In ancient China, tributes were mainly paid to the deity on the second day of the second lunar month in spring. But after flowers begin to wither due to intense heat during Mangzhong, it was customary to pay homage to the deity as a farewell, expressing gratitude for the past season along with prayers for a bountiful next year.