[Video/ntfabu.com]

A series of traditional activities were held in Tianshenggang town, Chongchuan district, Nantong on May 4 to welcome lixia, or "Start of Summer", the seventh solar term of the Chinese lunar calendar, which falls on May 5 this year.

According to Chinese folk culture, hanging an egg on a child's chest during lixia will prevent the child from contracting summer diseases. Thus, knitting bags for eggs became a lixia tradition.

During the activity, local residents who used to be fishermen and are experienced at weaving nets made colorful bags for children.

The children also participated in an egg-knocking competition, in which two children knock their eggs together and the person whose egg breaks first loses.

Another tradition is weighing children using a traditional scale, which is believed to bring good luck. According to traditional Chinese culture, the sliding weight can only be moved from light to heavy and the body weight should be rounded up to 10 when it reads nine.