Come twenty third October, a Chinese school is taking a break. It is the ninth day of the ninth month of the lunar calendar and the day of the Double-Ninth Festival or Chongyang Festival 重陽節. An Indian lady asked what is the festival about and this should not be a surpise. Though the festival isn't something new; its origin went back as early as the Warring States period; it strangely isn't celebrated in Malaysia, at least not by Chinese I know. Double-Ninth Festival is observed in Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, Japan, Korea and even Vietnam. On this day, I read people celebrate by climbing mountains, drinking chrysanthemum liquor and wearing the zhuyu (茱萸) plant Cornus officinalis. The zhuyu plant supposedly has cleansing qualities and can be used to air out houses and cure illnesses. Pardon me for thinking that the Double-Ninth Festival is a day for cleansing.
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