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 branch of the Chinese 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.