On the day of the Autumn Equinox, China is celebrating the first national Harvest Festival with feats made from harvested crops and performances from rural societies in order to recognize the role of farmers in Chinese society. As the majority of the Chinese population, farmers have made great contributions throughout Chinese history. Chinese President Xi Jinping congratulated them on Saturday and called on all of China to join in the nationwide festive events.

The main event of first Chinese Harvest Festival kicked off in the National Agricultural Exhibition Center in Beijing on Sunday, with the top ten farming representatives receiving honors.

"It gives us more confidence, hope, and passion to work in the fields," said Xiang Hui, one of the ten awarded.

"It's a great pleasure to finally have a festival that we can call our own," she added.

China's status as a largely agricultural society has meant rural areas and farmers are one of the country's top priorities. The advent of the festival comes at a critical period in the nation's poverty alleviation program. The strategy of rejuvenating the countryside also began this year.

For the last five years, grain output has remained stable at 600 million tons per year. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2012, farmers' incomes have continued to grow. Agricultural modernization, deepening land reform, and sustainable development strategies have laid the ground for strong harvest seasons and a better rural life.

On display in Beijing are the harvest itself, the cutting-edge technologies used in contemporary Chinese farming and tributes to efficient management in rural areas. Feng Suolao, head of the persimmon research institute in Fuping County, Weinan City in northwestern Shaanxi Province, presented achievements from that area at the National Agricultural Exhibition Center in Beijing on Sunday.

As Feng said, the sales of dried persimmons in Fuping have surged in the past year.

"With the best persimmon breed and a long history of producing dried persimmons, farmers in Fuping have also benefited from advanced planting techniques and processing machinery, e-commerce platforms, and local incentive policies," Feng added.

At the regional level, hundreds of events are going on in six major agricultural heartlands. Celebrations involving distinctive intangible cultural heritages and ethnic minority customs will highlight the country's rich farming culture. 

The new festival will boost people's pride in their own culture and give them a sense of fulfillment, and many say it will also promote the fusion of traditional culture and modern civilization to the rest of world.