Dragon Head-Raising (龙抬头) Day is a traditional festival for Chinese people. It is the second day of the second lunar (农历的) month. In other words, it falls on March 10 in 2016.

There are many traditions to celebrate the Dragon Head-raising Day, and the ash path is one of them. On the day, people, especially people who live in the North of China, put paths of ashes (灰) into kitchens and around water vats (缸). These paths were believed to lead the dragon into their homes. They also draw ash circles in their courtyard which represent “barns”. According to the tradition, it is a ceremony to pray for harvest and the bigger the circles are the more grains they will get. So, many big ash circles can be seen in famers’ courtyards on this day.

As for foods, people eat noodles and dumplings on this day. Noodles are called“dragon whisker (龙须)” noodles and dumplings are called “dragon's teeth”. They named it after the dragon to show people's worship to the dragon.

Dragons are gods of wind and rain in ancient Chinese legendary stories. It is said the hibernated dragon usually wakes on the second day of the second month, and he raises his head and brings rain to the world. After this day, there will be more and more rain and trees and other plants will grow vibrantly. So, the ancient people believed that the dragon's blessing is very important to their harvest.

There is also an interesting custom that cutting hair on this day brings good luck to the one and his family, especially for kids. So, the barbershops are crowded with customers on that day.