A traditional ploughing ceremony takes place at Yunhe Terrace on June 15. [Photo/zjol.com.cn] 

Yunhe county – in Lishui, East China's Zhejiang province – held a time-honored ceremony to celebrate this year's start of summer ploughing at the Yunhe Terrace scenic spot on June 15.

Yunhe Terrace, which has witnessed a thousand years of farming civilization, is a golden name card for the county. The ploughing ceremony has been observed in Yunhe for more than 800 years and it is carried out to pray for the harvest in the forthcoming year.

It is celebrated on the day of Mangzhong, which translates as Grain in Ear and means mature grain and it is the ninth of the 24 solar terms.

Visitors watch folk customs during the ceremony. [Photo/zjol.com.cn]

In addition to traditional activities such as folk customs performances and farming cultural experiences, this year's ceremony also included hiking and intangible cultural heritage experiences.

The Yunhe Terrace scenic spot has in recent years been making concerted efforts to upgrade itself into a national 5A-level scenic spot that is worthy of its existing reputation.

According to county officials, the county will take the event as an opportunity to promote the construction of cultural venues such as a world terraced field museum and strive to become a national 5A-level tourist attraction this year.