On October 18, Shenyang Xita Church held the Autumn Harvest Thanksgiving Day. The brothers and sisters brought the harvest--- vegetables and fruits to church and prepared various programs to give thanks to God.
Xita Church says the vegetables and fruits symbolize Christians' thanksgiving to God, thanking God for his blessings in our places and granting us harvest. So Christians should bring the firstfruit to God as an offering to give thanks.
According to Gospel Times, although it is widely known that the fourth Thursday of November is Thanksgiving Day, many churches in Liaoning Province regard someday after autumn harvest of October as Thanksgiving Day to celebrate, such as local churches in Dalian, Panjin, Shenyang and Anshan.
In addition to this, Yunnan Miao Church holds Thanksgiving Day twice. The first time is in April or May of lunar calendar, called by local people as "Xiaochun Thanksgiving". People usually choose one day after crops such as wheat and broad beans ready for harvest. The second time is in October of lunar calendar, called "Dachun Thanksgiving" or "Autumn Harvest Thanksgiving". The exact day goes after most crops including corns and potatoes become ripe. Xiaochu Thanksgiving only holds inside churches, while it comes to Dachun Thanksgiving Day, local people will invite Christian groups in surrounding villages and counties to celebrate. There will be around 1000 Christians in the grand celebration.
