What does the Great Cold Tradition eat?

There is a custom of eating glutinous rice in the great cold solar terms.

There is a saying in Lingnan folk proverb: "Slight cold and severe cold, cold without wind." In some parts of China, severe cold is not as good as slight cold, but in most years and some coastal areas, the lowest temperature in the whole year appears in severe cold solar terms.

In the extremely cold days of the traditional solar terms, Guangdong folk formed the custom of eating glutinous rice. Nowadays, in Guangdong, it is common to see such a scene: before the great cold comes, every household cooks a pot of fragrant glutinous rice and mixes it with bacon, dried shrimps, dried squid and mushrooms to welcome the coldest day in the traditional solar terms. Anqing, Anhui has the custom of frying spring rolls in cold weather.

The custom of solar terms in severe cold.

The severe cold solar terms often coincide with the end of the year, and some folk customs during the period have more meaning of saying goodbye to the old and welcoming the new. In this solar term, people are busy saying goodbye to the old and welcoming the new, pickling new year's dishes and preparing new year's goods, because the Spring Festival, the most important festival for China people, is coming. As the last solar term at the end of the year, the Great Cold is a slack season, but everyone is "busy"-busy with the New Year, which is the custom of "welcoming the New Year in the Great Cold".