Submission Gallery
This page is an exhibition of many wonderful works produced by participants of the course. Submissions for the current module are displayed here.
Submissions for Beginning of Summer (立夏)
Lilies of the Valley (by Dom)
… and I absolutely love what the 24 solar terms are about. 🙂
I have been quite busy, so I haven't posted but I wanted to share the French tradition of offering a couple of sprigs of lily of the valley on 1st May, to people who matter to us, as a sign of good will and luck. I was thrilled to discovered that the garden in my new home as a bedding full of lilies of the valley and, as it happens, I had guests staying with me on 1st May, so I picked a little bunch (after respectfully asking the flowers if it was OK to pick a few) and put it on the table for breakfast, then wished everyone the very best. 🙂
(The following are comments by other participants)
Feixia: Thank you Dom. This is so beautiful. I love lily of the valley, so pure and free from any dust of this earthly world🙏🙏
Steve: It is a very lovely tradition Dom 👍.
Sigyta: Such a beautiful tradition...thankyou for sharing Dom...it is very new for me to know this x
Nicky: Great to know this tradition thank you Dom.
My mum loved Lily of the Valley and was always given some on her 30th April birthday by a friend who grew them. Maybe part of the same tradition.
Classical Music Recommendation (By Dom)
I have also been looking at classical music that might represent spring, other than the first section of the Four Seasons, and I have found the (below) two, so far that inspired me:
Apalachian spring by Aaron Coplan
The Lark Ascending by Vaughn William
Photo Series for Beginning oF Summer (by Everyone)
Early Summer flower. By Teressa from Texas, US.
Blooming flower at the Beginning of Summer. By Teressa.
Hajnal captures the flowering of her chestnut tree, Hungary.
Chestnut in full bloom, by Hajnal.
Superfrangrance 01, by Hajnal. As for waking up dormant senses: I can send the birdsong, but I cannot send the smell of spring. The most fragrant period is coming with the bloom of pseudoacacia and linen trees. I can hardly wait ...
Submissions for Grain Rain (谷雨)
Spring - Polish Traditions (by Agnieszka)
(Full exhibition here) Drawning of a straw doll symbolising goddess Marzanna, known also as Marzana, Morana, Morena, Zmora or Death – in Slavic mythology (Slavic people lived in north-Eastern Europe) – personalisation of winter and eath but also rebirth and cycles of nature.
Taiji Diagram and 24 Solar Terms (by Vicky)
Link to full paper:
Wild Garlic Pesto (by Nashy)
Ingredients:
100g wild garlic leaves
60g finely grated Parmesan cheese
50g toasted pine nuts (or walnuts instead)
160ml light olive oil
a squeeze of lemon juice
Blend all the ingredients, then it's ready to be used. Enjoy!
Practicing Hold up Mount Sumeru (by Sygita)
Today's posture really made me think about where our hands are placed.....it was like the hand below the breast is at the end of the liver meridian and it can open the chest energy to send energy upwards through the chest to Lung 1 and Lung 2 below the clavicle....raising the arm high above our head felt like it was drawing up our qi to fully stretch open our Lung energy and breath.
I love our classes..
..thankyou Feixia...have a lovely week ❤️
(Sygita is an acupuncturist with expert knowledge of relevant acupoints and a high sensitivity to energy flow in the meridians.)
New Life in the Pond (by Kim)
Baby duckings at our local park. The parents are so protective!
Lovely seasonal song and video from "Bambi" (by Tom)
The 24 Solar Terms in four calligraphic styles (by Mr Liao Peihao)
This graceful contribution brings together the names of the 24 Solar Terms written in Seal Script, Regular Script, Running Script, and Clerical Script, with one style accompanying each season. Each script carries its own mood and movement, offering a poetic way to experience the changing year through calligraphy. A beautiful reflection on time, seasonality, and the expressive life of the brush.
Photo Series for Grain Rain (by Everyone)
Xiangchun (Chinese toon) - an edible spring leaf, highly priced for its tenderness, commonly stir-fried with eggs or served as salad mixed with crushed garlic. By Feixia. Submitted 17th April, Preston.
![Early Spring in London.
"All the leaves are out! My favorite time of the year in the flat [East London]. The trees are full of birds and squirrels."
By Hannah. Date: 18th April.](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/695ad4e36061fc75a56ab24b/c795baac-ef14-45ec-bffd-670f8a02c1f5/f0cbe162-3a43-4965-95f0-2622849fc4df.jpg)
Early Spring in London. "All the leaves are out! My favorite time of the year in the flat [East London]. The trees are full of birds and squirrels." By Hannah. Date: 18th April.
Cat’s Tail: My “grain” growing! They came into ‘Blossom” 4 days ago. Submitted by Sue, Hampshire, 24-04-2026. No idea what it is. It’s by the fird table, so it’s a bird seed grain. I’ve always known it as a Cat Tail. Notes by ChatGPT: Because it grew from fallen birdseed, it is more likely to be a grass or millet. It could be either Phleum pratense — Timothy grass, also called common cat’s-tail or meadow cat’s-tail; or Setaria italica — foxtail millet, a common bird-seed millet that can sprout and produce fuzzy tail-like seed heads.
Submitted by Feixia, Preston, 24-02-2026. This is the most welcoming tree, its low branch acts like a bench, It was the children’s favorite snack spot when they were little. I still come and sit on it regularly, to people watch while enjoying the sun or the breeze. New shoots
The most welcoming tree (cont.)
Haslam Park. Submitted by Joey, Preston, 24-04-2026. Fresh new leaves on the trees in Haslam Park.
Haslam Park (cont.) I spotted a squirrel.
Haslam Park (cont.)
Chestnut on the 14th of April. By Hajnal, from Hungary.
Same chestnut, on the 24th of April.
Submissions for Qingming (清明)
Granddad and granddaughter on an early Spring outing. By Will. Submitted 4th April, Leeds.
Iranian New Year on Spring Equinox.
Blackbird spotted during Qingming. By Teressa, all the way from Texas, US.
Painting of Qingming. By Teressa.
Flower blooming during Qingming. By Teressa.
Gecko spotted. By Teressa.
Submissions for Spring Equinox （春分）
Qing Tuan (green glutenous rice ball) - a seasonal delicacy made with juice from fresh mugwort leaves. By Yan Xu. Submitted 4th April, Guangzhou.
Green plums, used for making plum liquor, commonly consumed in China and Japan.
"Wild garlic is beautifully green, profuse, and now white flowers are starting to bloom" - Tom. Submitted 6th April, somewhere in the UK.
Beans on toast, sprinkled with wild garlic leaves. "A very good medicine, and delicious at this time of year." - Tom. Submitted 7th April.
First six Solar Terms - in calligraphy. By Teresa Que. Submitted 10th March, Bangor Chinese School.
Watercolor - Spring Splendor. By Dr. Qing Chen. Submitted 20th March, Liverpool Univesity.
Submissions for Awakening of Insects （ 惊蛰）
Curiosity with a ladybird.
By Hannah. Submitted 8th March, East London.
90-year old grandma making Da Chun Ji (打春鸡) in 2016, as a good health token for her grandson. By Qingxue Liu. Submitted 6th March, Jiangxi, China.
Da Chun Ji is a folk tradition from Shandong, East China.
The Chun Ji - usually stitched onto a child's hat or jumper in pairs.
"This tradition is at risk of dying out. Forwarding 10 years, my mother can no longer make one due to aging." - Qingxue Liu, now regretting not having learned this craft
Submissions for Rain Water (雨水)
Submissions for Beginning of Spring （立春）
Snowdrops outside Cambridge Botanical Garden. Submitted by: Faye. Date: 8th February, 2026.
Snowdrops behind the Xu Zhimo Poem Sculpture in King's College, Cambridge. Submitted by: Faye. Date: 8th February, 2026.
very daffodils bought at our local supermarket on 3rd of Feb, 2026 from Feixia in Preston
a bowl of delicious beef noodles, with raddish, spring onion and coriander, which are typical used to mark the beginning of spring as in the 咬春（biting spring）tradition. on 8th of Feb, 2026, from Qian in Cambridge