Harvest of fortune

"It, in some way, fosters good rural neighborhood relations," Lin says.

The village has staged many similar celebrations for farming events, such as the rice-seedlings transplant during Dragon Boat Festival, which is the fifth day of the fifth lunar month and fell on June 14 this year.

"It's nice to see the smile on our villagers' face when they are reaping in the field or carrying the harvest on a pole across their shoulders during the celebrations," Lin says.

Since 2018, China has designated the autumnal equinox of the lunar calendar, which will fall on Sept 23 this year, for farmers to celebrate the annual harvest.

The festival was approved by the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council to vitalize rural culture.

It aims to give greater importance to rural work, speed up the implementation of China's rural vitalization strategy, and push for faster development of agriculture and rural areas, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

Autumnal equinox is one of the 24 solar terms of the Chinese lunisolar calendar and marks the country's agricultural harvest season.

Celebrations have been organized to display the agricultural harvest, rural technology achievements and farmers' creativeness. Farmers are encouraged to engage in activities related to their work and life during the harvest festival.

Rural vitalization is a key part of China's efforts to develop a modernized economy. The goal is to nurture a strong agricultural sector, a beautiful countryside and well-off farmers through vitalizing its vast rural regions.