Beginning of Winter (Chinese:立冬), the 19th solar term of the year, starts this year on Nov 8. It is the first solar term of winter, which means winter is coming and crops harvested in autumn should be stored up.

Here are some of the customs of the winter season.

Eating dumplings
This custom is common in the northern area of China. A legend has it that at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty (AD25-220), "Medical Saint" Zhang Zhongjing saved many people in Henan province from a typhoid epidemic and their ears from frostbitten around the Beginning of Winter.

He cooked mutton, hot peppers, and herbs to dispel the cold and increase body heat. He wrapped these ingredients into a dough skin and made them ear-shaped. Since then, people have learned to make food known as "dumplings". Today, there is still a saying that goes, "Eat dumplings on the Beginning of Winter Day, or your ears will be frostbitten".

Nourishing the winter
On the first day of Beginning of Winter, there is a custom, "nourishing the winter", in Southeast China in places such as Fujian, Guangdong, and Taiwan provinces. To prepare for the oncoming cold winter, people there like to eat high-calorie food such as chicken, duck, beef, mutton, and fish, which are usually stewed with Chinese medicines to enhance the effectiveness of the nourishment.

(By Yang Jiming/Qi Qian)