End of Heat is the 14th solar term on the Chinese lunar calendar, which falls on August 23rd this year, putting an end to the hot summer. 

In China, it is said that people tend to feel wearyand languid in autumn because they have consumed excessive energy in the summer. It's a sign that human body needs rest and nutrition.

That leads to the tradition of eating ducks during End of Heat. Among many recipes of cooking ducks, what goes with stewed ducks the best is fungus. When autumn rain falls, fungus grow from the underground in Guanyin Village, Longli County, Guizhou Province,  “luring”foodies with their fresh and amazing tastes.

Unexpectedly, the early autumn night is getting longer and longer, and the wind is blowing hard and bleak. The heat wave and cold air fought for a season, and finally slowly receded. On August 23, the solar term for the summer vacation will come.

Chushu is the 14th of the 24 solar terms. According to the Collection Interpretation of the Seventy Two Days of the Month Order, "When we go, the summer heat will stop here." The summer heat treatment, that is, "out of the summer heat", means the end of the hot and unbearable weather.

 

Photographed by Yang Wukui in Guizhou countryside after early autumn rain

 

Three times in the summer: at the first time, "the eagle is a sacrificial bird". In the cool autumn, the eagle began to hunt a large number of birds. The eagle placed the prey on the ground as if it were a sacrificial display. In the second stage, "the heaven and the earth begin to disappear", and everything in the world begins to wither. As the first of the five cereals, "millet" is the first to mature in the summer.

 

A fungus that breaks through the ground

 

In the summer, the night is cold and the day is warm. The autumn rain comes with the long desired coolness. Guanyin Village, Gujiao Town, Longli County, located in the hinterland of central Guizhou, has an average altitude of 1200 meters and a forest coverage rate of more than 85%. The rich vegetation and warm and humid climate breed extremely rich wild fungus resources.

This season, rain and sunshine are particularly abundant. At night, the pine forest replenished the nutrients. When the sun came to work, dozens of bacteria such as purple flower fungus, milk jelly fungus, chicken fir fungus and so on broke the ground one after another. The 40000 mu forest was full of delicious signals.

 

In the morning, villagers in Guanyin Village pick wild mushrooms in the forest

The villagers of Guanyin Village are all hidden experts with unique skills.

In the morning, Bouyei Bouyei, carrying a bamboo basket up the mountain, walked freely under the lush forest. With a flick of the sickle, the fungus hidden in thick pine needles could be seen. With experience and diligence, you can harvest all kinds of mountain treasures in one morning.

Pick up fresh food in the mountain and sell it at the foot of the mountain. As a first-hand trading place, the wild mushroom market at the entrance of Guanyin Village is bustling every day. The best taste in the mountains is tantalizing the fingers and taste buds of the diners. What's more, they are quick to see.

 

Guanyin Village Wild Mushroom Market, customers are shopping for wild mushrooms

 

Unlock the unique fragrance hidden by various fungi Only fast can not break.

Stir frying, stewing, hanging soup... But for a few hours, the fungus coming down the mountain brings the mystery and nature of the mountains directly to the table. A sentence "really fresh" is a taste experience that the picky tongue understands and diligently seeks.

The summer has come, and in a delicious taste, you can be comfortable and healthy and enter a new time sequence.

 

 

Tianyan News Reporter of Guizhou Daily

Pang Bo, Zhou Xuan, Huang Yixin, Wei Yuxin

Poster Qi Qingyang Zhou Tao

Produced by Xunmai Rongmei Studio

Editor Li Jie

Second instance Yang Tao

Third instance Min Jie