A poem to mark China's Double Ninth, or 'Chongyang' Festival

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Double Ninth Festival, or Chongyang Festival (重阳节) in Chinese, falls on the ninth day of the ninth month in the lunar calendar, which this year is October 23.

In Chinese, nine is regarded as the number of Yang, and the ninth day of the ninth month is the day that has two Yang numbers, and 'chong' in Chinese means double – which is how the name Chongyang was created.

It is a day for people to eat Chongyang cake, drink chrysanthemum wine, hold onto dogwood and climb mountains.

As nine is pronounced 'jiu' (九) meaning long (久) in Chinese, so people endow the word jiu (九) with the meaning of longevity. In 1989, Double Ninth Festival was designated as Senior's Day, a day to respect the elderly. Members of a family reunite together to accompany their elders to celebrate this festival.

Thinking of my Brothers on Mountain Climbing Day is one of the most famous poems about this festival. The Tang Dynasty poet Wang Wei (692-761) expressed his longing for the love of his brothers.

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