Shao wa yao, the mid-autumn tile kiln
Broken tiles stacked into a tower on mid-autumn night, filled with firewood and burnt red, flame shooting from the holes; a tall one clears a man’s head.
Pronunciation shāo wǎ yáo｜Food and tea｜One entry in the Chaoshan glossary
What it means
Broken tiles are gathered and stacked ring on ring into a hollow tower, with holes left for the fire and for the ash. Firewood goes in until the whole body glows and flame comes out of the holes. How big it gets depends on how many tiles the children have collected; a tall one stands above head height.
The gazetteer line about children burning towers for sport is among the earliest records of it.
When you see it
Mid-autumn night. In January 2026 the Chaozhou municipal government published its tenth batch of municipal intangible heritage items, and Chaozhou shao wa yao was entered under custom, with Xiangqiao district as the applying area.
Words easily confused
This is a mid-autumn custom, with nothing to do with the kilns that fire bricks and tiles, and it is not another name for burning a tower — locally it is shao wa yao and nothing else.
Read next: The tile kiln: the tower they build on mid-autumn night.
Same group: worshipping the moon, the Chaoshan mooncake, the eight festivals.
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Last revised: 3 November 2026