Chongqing Celebrates Chinese Farmer’s Harvest Festival to Embrace Prosperity

With the theme of "Celebrating a Good Harvest and Welcoming a Well-off," this year's Chinese Farmer's Harvest Festival was staged on September 22, the fall equinox among the 24 solar terms. On that day, Chongqing held municipal activities for celebrating a good harvest simultaneously in its different districts and counties, carrying out various kinds of celebration activities with strong rural characteristics, during which masses of farmers were singing and dancing in the fields. 

Approved by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council, the Chinese Farmer's Harvest Festival has been held on the fall equinox day since 2018. It is the first national festival dedicated to farmers.

This year is unusual with a hard-won harvest, so this session of the festival is of greater significance. 2020 is a milestone year for China as the country is finally on the home stretch to realize its first centenary goal—building a moderately prosperous society in all respects; it is also the year to complete China's poverty alleviation tasks. However, the sudden outbreak of COVID-19 at the beginning of the year and the flooding that occurred in some areas during the flood season have made this year of special historical significance even more unusual.

According to the data from Chongqing Commission of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, in the first half-year, the value-added of the city's primary industry grew by 2.4% compared with the same period last year; the city's planting area of grain crops planted from May to September reached 16,540 km², a rise of 300 km²; the output of grain crops planted from October to the next April was 1,196,000 tons, roughly the same as the previous year; the production of rapeseed totaled 518,000 tons, up by 3.8%; the number of pigs slaughtered amounted to 7,469,000, basically the same as last year; the vegetable planting area and the output reached 3706.67 km² and 10.77 million tons, an increase of 1.2% and 3.7% respectively.

After a heart-stopping and arduous struggle against the epidemic, floods, and other disasters, such a harvest is worth celebrating and deserves to be remembered.

During this session of the Chinese Farmer's Harvest Festival, Chongqing arranged a series of activities. Besides the harvest celebrations held in six districts/counties synchronously, there were six special activities for urban and rural interaction and harvest sharing in districts and counties along the Yangtze River. Moreover, ten special activities to promote the harvest, including the 9th Chongqing Rural Art Festival, were also carried out together with harvest showcasing series activities in other districts/counties.