Double Nine Festival

The ninth day of the ninth month of the Chinese lunar calendar has long been a traditional holiday common to both China and Taiwan, Japan, Korea and Vietnam. This festival in Chinese is called Chung Yeung [重陽節] while in Japanese it is called Kiku no Sekku [重陽 の 節 句] or Chrysanthemum Festival.
Why was it decided in China to celebrate on the ninth day of the ninth month?
Because the number nine in Chinese symbolism is related to yang and twice nine indicates an extremely yang day. It is believed that in the past this day full of masculine energy was chosen as a lucky charm to drive away the evil one.
Today, in China and Taiwan, it has become a celebration to remember their ancestors and many visit the graves of loved ones bringing flowers and food.
Other customs are lunches with typical foods, burning incense in temples, mountain tours, family visits, and even… flying kites!

Although in Japan it is celebrated on the ninth day of the ninth month of the Gregorian calendar that is September 9, in China it is calculated according to the lunar calendar and this year it will fall on October 4.

A very traditional food is the rice cake called Gao [糕 “gāo] in all its variations which can be white or enriched with seeds, fruit and flowers.
Of course it goes well with drinks, in particular chrysanthemum infusion, chrysanthemum liqueur or tea.

In Japan and Korea this festival is not celebrated so much with the intention of worshiping the ancestors, but essentially for the purpose of propitiating good health and long life and chrysanthemum is used a lot not only because it is a beautiful

In Japan and Korea this festival is not celebrated so much with the intention of worshiping the ancestors, but essentially for the purpose of propitiating good health and long life and chrysanthemum is used a lot not only because it is a beautiful seasonal flower, but because it is believed to be highly purifying and lucky.
I too have always loved the chrysanthemum flower despite the fact that in the West it is linked to the cult of the dead as it is one of the few showy flowers that grows in the period of the anniversary of the dead in Christianity.
In Korea, pancakes stuffed with chrysanthemum leaves are eaten, while in Japan, rice and chestnut dishes such as chestnut mochi are eaten.

When in China and Korea we talk about chrysanthemum tea, we don’t really mean a tea, but an infusion of yellow chrysanthemum or white chrysanthemum flowers. The varieties most used to dry and use as an infusion in China are the “morifolium” or “indicum” of Anhui and Hangzhou, while the Indian chrysanthemum is used more in Korea.
Chrysanthemum in tea is not used as much as jasmine or osmanthus; found essentially in handcrafted flower tea balls.
Gongyicha [工艺 茶], also called yishucha [艺术 茶], are very artistic handcrafted teas in the shape of small spheres made of tea leaves sewn by hand around a dried floral bouquet. Once placed in the water, the tea leaves slowly open and the colored flowers come out.
The basic tea can be white, green or red while the flowers used are of many different types, in particular white and yellow chrysanthemums, jasmine, lilies, amaranth and hibiscus flowers, osmanthus, carnation, calendula and roses.

Other types of tea that can be found commercially blended with chrysanthemum flowers without artificial flavorings or other additions are both loose and compressed pu’er and green tea.
Chrysanthemum is very popular because it is considered extremely healthy.

Do you want to know more about tea? Don’t miss our Tea Sommelier courses: they are held regularly both in the face-to-face version and in the online version with a teacher.
In both cases the program is the same and the teas will be tasted on site or sent home with step-by-step preparation live.
Hurry up, the first online level Tea Sommelier course will start next 21-22-23 October from 18.30 to 21.30! There will be another on 14-15-16 November 2022.
To find out more, visit the website: