The customs of the Double Ninth Festival include: climbing high, eating Double Ninth Cake, appreciating chrysanthemums and drinking chrysanthemum wine, planting dogwood and hairpin chrysanthemums, and worshiping ancestors.

1. Climbing

In ancient times, people had the custom of climbing during the Double Ninth Festival, so the Double Ninth Festival is also called the "Climbing Festival". According to legend, this custom began in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Literati in the Tang Dynasty wrote many climbing poems, most of which were about the customs of the Double Ninth Festival; Du Fu's seven-character "Deng Gao" is a famous poem about climbing on the Double Ninth Festival. There are no uniform regulations for climbing wherever you go. Generally, you climb mountains and towers. There is also the custom of eating "Double Ninth Cake".

2. Eating Double Ninth Cake

According to historical records, Double Ninth Cake is also called flower cake, chrysanthemum cake, and five-color cake. There is no set method for making it and it is relatively random. At dawn on September 9th, people put a piece of cake on their children's foreheads and muttered something, wishing their children all the best. This was the original intention of the ancients to make cakes in September. The special Double Ninth Festival cake should be made into nine layers, like a pagoda, with two lambs on top to match the meaning of Double Ninth Festival (sheep).

3. Appreciating chrysanthemums and drinking chrysanthemum wine

The Double Ninth Festival is the golden autumn season of the year, when chrysanthemums are in full bloom. It is said that appreciating chrysanthemums and drinking chrysanthemum wine originated from the great poets of the Jin Dynasty. Tao Yuanming. Tao Yuanming was famous for his seclusion, his poetry, his wine, and his love of chrysanthemums. Later generations followed suit, and the custom of appreciating chrysanthemums during the Double Ninth Festival was established. In the old days, literati and officials would combine chrysanthemum appreciation with banquets in order to get closer to Tao Yuanming.

4. Planting dogwood

The custom of planting dogwood on the Double Ninth Festival has been very common in the Tang Dynasty. The ancients believed that planting dogwood on the Double Ninth Festival can provide refuge and eliminate disasters; it can be worn on the arm, used as a sachet with the dogwood inside and worn, and some can be placed on the head. Most of them are worn by women and children. In some places, men also wear them. Wearing dogwood on the Double Ninth Festival is recorded in Ge Hong's "Xi Jing Za Ji" in the Jin Dynasty.

5. Ancestor worship

The Double Ninth Festival is one of the four traditional ancestor worship festivals in China. Ancient people have a tradition of worshiping ancestors and praying for blessings. With the development and evolution of history, the concept of family and ancestor worship in many places is gradually weakening. In ancient times, the traditional custom of worshiping ancestors on the Double Ninth Festival is still popular in Lingnan. People will hold ancestor worship activities on the Double Ninth Festival every year.