Eating red beans

Starting from the Tang Dynasty (618-907) and the Song Dynasty (960-1279), people in Yiwu, Zhejiang province, have eaten red beans on Start of Autumn day. They take seven to 14 little beans, swallowing them with well water. When taking the beans, one must face west, it is said, so as not to get dysentery during the autumn.

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Eating gourds

During the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), people would put gourds outside for a day before the Start of Autumn, and eat them on Start of Autumn day to drive off the summer heat. Today people in Tianjin still keep this custom, believing that eating melons such as towel gourd, white gourd and bitter gourd can prevent diarrhea in autumn and the coming winter and spring.