Slight Heat signifies the hottest period is coming but the extreme hot point has yet to arrive.

In Slight Heat, high temperatures are good for the growth of the lotus flower. From Minor Heat to the Double Ninth Festival, the lotus flower is in full bloom, and always simple but elegant.

Slight Heat is the season when fireflies become lively. Zhu Shuzhen, a woman of the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279), once described in her famous poem Summer Fireflies a happy scene of children playing with fireflies in the woods at night.

During the Slight Heat period, with the longest amount of sunlight and the strongest sunlight radiation, many families hang their clothes out in the sun to prevent mildew.

When the "dog day" comes, people tend to lose their appetites, and dumplings can refresh people's feelings toward food.

One custom in Nanjing, Jiangsu province has to do with enjoying small melons on the day of Slight Heat and having big melons on the day of Major Heat. Small and big melons normally refer to cantaloupes and watermelons.