China News Service, Hohhot, September 23. Title: The grasslands of Inner Mongolia are busy with the beginning of autumn, and Fengzhen mooncakes are fragrant.
China News Service reporter Zhang Wei
September 23 is the autumnal equinox. The ancient Chinese book "Spring and Autumn Dew: The Entrance and Exit of Yin and Yang, Part Two" records: "At the autumnal equinox, Yin and Yang are half in phase, so day and night are even and the cold and heat are equal." At this time, the grains are returned to the warehouse, the melons and fruits are fragrant, and the 2026 "Chinese Farmers Harvest Festival" activities are held in various places.
At a harvest event in the West Coast New District of Qingdao, Shandong, farmers performed shows and had endless fun in farming. "Village Dance Cup", "Village Games" and "Village Song Festival" were staged in turn; villagers in Shuanglong Village, Fenghua Town, Suiyang County, Zunyi, Guizhou, caught chickens and Pigs, fish, and rice are harvested to celebrate the harvest and share the joy of harvest; at the Ma'anshan Harvest Festival in Anhui, specialty agricultural products such as grains, oils, vegetables, fruit tea, livestock and poultry, and aquatic products were showcased side by side, and people enjoyed the joy of "shopping and eating"...
On September 6, on the Hulunbuir grassland, a baler machine drove by, and bundles of tight forage were spread out at random. Photo by Tian Haolin
In Hulunbuir, Inner Mongolia, more than 30 million acres of grassland have been "sickled". The natural grassland here covers an area of more than 100 million acres, and there are more than 120 kinds of pasture grasses such as alkali grass, stipa grass, alfalfa, ice grass, etc. It is called the "Kingdom of Pasture".
In Chaogegacha, Bayantala Daur National Township, Ewenki Autonomous Banner, Hulunbuir City, herdsmen drive lawn mowers back and forth between pastures. Wherever the rake passes, the grass falls down, and the rotating rake of the rake gathers the scattered grass into long green "long dragons". As the baler moves, the grass is gathered and compacted to form tight and regular bales, which are scattered on the meadow.
“The grass is growing very well this year and the yield is good.” Over the years, Lin Guang, a herdsman from Chaogegacha, has carefully protected the root system and surface humus layer of the pasture while harvesting forage. Nowadays, a variety of high-quality forage grasses compete to grow, and the forage produced has high nutritional value. "Scientific grass cutting can not only ensure that the cattle and sheep at home have grass to eat in the winter, but also protect the grassland."
Outside the pasture, mooncakes are fragrant. During the autumnal equinox, the Mid-Autumn Festival is approaching. In the streets and alleys of Longshengzhuang Town, Fengzhen City, Ulanqab City, many mooncake workshops are busy setting up earth ovens and lighting charcoal fires.
The autumnal equinox was historically a "moon festival". As early as the Zhou Dynasty, there was a tradition of "worshiping the sun at the spring equinox, the earth at the summer solstice, the moon at the autumnal equinox, and the sky at the winter solstice." People set up incense tables on the night of the autumnal equinox to worship the moon god and pray for reunion. Later, the calendars were integrated, and the "Moon Festival" was gradually moved from the autumnal equinox to the 15th day of the eighth lunar month.
Fengzhen mooncakes were originally called "Hu cakes". They are made with wheat flour, brown sugar, and sesame oil as the core raw materials, and are baked in a traditional earthen oven. The finished product is brown, soft, and sweet. It was once a must-have dry food for business travelers traveling through the grasslands on the thousands-mile tea road.
Chang Xiaofeng, the representative inheritor of the intangible cultural heritage of Longshengzhuang's mooncake making skills, told a reporter from China News Service that he has now developed more than 50 new products based on traditional mixed sugar mooncakes, such as cheese mooncakes, oatmeal and five-nut mooncakes, and grassland yogurt mooncakes. They have been distributed to Beijing, Shanxi and other places with the help of cold chain logistics. During peak seasons, his workshop consumes 1,500 kilograms of flour in a single day, and mooncakes are still in short supply.
On September 15, staff at the mooncake workshop in Bufeng Town, Ulanqab, took out freshly baked mooncakes. Photo by Zhou Junping
Mongolian people will wear Mongolian robes when cutting grass and celebrating the harvest to show respect for the festival. The buckles on the Mongolian robes are also very particular. Sun Yajie, the representative inheritor of the intangible cultural heritage of Qingcheng, Hohhot, said that every autumn equinox, she would make some pan buckles that blend with the solar terms. For example, the chrysanthemum button is made of ocher and turmeric to create a warm tone, which is in harmony with the warmth of the season; the arc of the goldfish button reflects the autumn water, hiding the wish of "more than enough every year"; the one-word button is like the rice ears on the field, carrying the meaning of a good harvest. (over)
