[ChinaMaxxing] The Weather We're Having Now Is Called Start of Summer

ChinaMaxxing is our semi-regular column where we skip the TikTok performance and go deeper. We cover the cultural facts, figures, quirks, seasons, holidays and whatever else actually matters if you want to understand how to live here rather than just visit. Solar terms that dictate when you should eat what. Lunar festivals nobody explains. Hyperlocal Shanghai traditions that have nothing to do with the Bund. The stuff that separates people who actually live here from people who are still tourists. Come China Maxx with us.

By the time Li Xia (立夏, lìxià) arrives in early May, the damp days of late spring start giving way to the first real hints of summer. Humidity, already a presence during Grain Rain, settles in with more confidence. It hasn't peaked yet, but it's no longer subtle. You start to notice which fabrics were a mistake to wear. Suddenly, walking anywhere with purpose feels slightly more ambitious than it did a few weeks ago.

Li Xia, literally "the establishment of summer," is the seventh of the 24 solar terms and marks the official beginning of the summer season. Here's what the next two weeks tend to look like, according to tradition and lived experience.

What It Feels Like Right Now

Li Xia typically begins between May 5 and 7 (this year, on the 5th), ushering in the gradual but unmistakable transition into summer. In agrarian China, this period signaled that crops were entering a period of rapid growth as temperatures rose and sunlight increased.

In Shanghai, you'll first notice it when layers start coming off – slowly at first, then all at once. Cafes spill further onto sidewalks. Air conditioners, dormant for months, hum back to life in offices and malls. The temperature can swing between pleasantly warm and unexpectedly oppressive, sometimes within the same day. Mornings still offer a brief window of softness, but by mid-afternoon, the heat settles in.

The cityscape, meanwhile, is pleasantly green. Shanghai's plane trees have thickened into a dense canopy. Early summer flowers like roses, gardenias, and the occasional wisteria bloom in pockets across the city, though their time is already beginning to fade. Cicadas start their droning soundtrack.

Things People Do (Or Used to Do) During This Term

Like most solar terms, Li Xia comes with its own set of customs, many of which are tied to preparing the body for heat and fatigue:

Eating Li Xia eggs: A common tradition centers around eating eggs on the first day of Li Xia, which is said to help ease the fatigue that sets in during the hotter months. In modern Shanghai, it mostly survives as a symbolic nod to tradition, but you'll still likely see references pop up in schools and on social media.

Stepping on the scale: Back in the day, people would weigh themselves at the start of Li Xia and again at the beginning of autumn to track weight loss over the summer. It was a practical way to monitor health during a season thought to drain energy and appetite.

Eating broad beans: Fresh broad beans (蚕豆, cāndòu) are in season right now, and eating them during this term is considered auspicious. You'll see them at wet markets, sometimes still in their pods, sometimes already shelled. They're often stir-fried with garlic and a touch of salt, or added to rice dishes, like five-color "Li Xia rice," which is cooked with bamboo shoots, broad beans, salted meat, and other seasonal ingredients.

Sipping plum juice: As temperatures rise, cooling drinks like sour plum soup (酸梅汤, suānméi tāng) become ubiquitous. Made from smoked plums, hawthorn, osmanthus, and rock sugar, it's a summer staple believed to aid digestion and relieve heat. In Shanghai, you'll find it bottled at convenience stores and freshly made at traditional drink shops. It's sweet, tart, smoky, and genuinely refreshing, though some consider it an acquired taste.

The Vegetable Situation

Li Xia also marks a shift in what's available at the market. Delicate spring vegetables like toon shoots and pea shoots are on their way out, replaced by sturdier, more heat-tolerant varieties. You'll see more cucumbers, loofah (丝瓜, sīguā), and leafy greens suited for quick cooking. Watermelon also starts appearing in earnest. Not the giant, perfectly round specimens of high summer yet, but the early arrivals that run smaller and slightly less sweet, still signaling that summer is here.

And then there's qingmei (青梅) – green plums that are typically too sour to eat raw, but are essential for making preserved plum snacks and plum wine (梅酒, méijiǔ). If you have Shanghainese friends or neighbors who get excited about jarring things, expect to hear about their plum wine projects right about now.

There's also a subtle but noticeable change in appetite. As the weather warms, heavy, oily foods lose some of their appeal, and people begin gravitating toward meals that feel hydrating rather than filling, even if they don't consciously frame it that way. In Shanghai, this is reflected in a shift toward lighter, easier-to-digest meals – less heavy braising, more simple stir-fries, and cold dishes like lightly dressed vegetables, chilled silken tofu, or noodles with simple sauces.

So This Is Where We Are Now

As the first solar term of summer, the Li Xia vibe, in Shanghai terms, is summer doing a soft opening.

We're still in a grace period before summer really sets in. The real heat is still ahead, bringing longer days, later sunsets, and the specific joy of cold noodles on a hot afternoon. After Li Xia, there's no more wondering if you need a jacket. No more checking the weather app five times a day. Hydrate aggressively, and accept that you will sweat.

Try to enjoy this moment of Shanghai summer-lite, when early mornings and evenings still feel breathable and long walks outside are enjoyable. It won't last, but that's kind of the point.