Start of Winter
The Start of Winter, one of the 24 solar terms on the traditional Chinese calendar, has arrived in Linyi, East China's Shandong province, and with it two rituals that northerners treat as non-negotiable: a pot of dumplings on the table, and the season's first airing of long johns.
the solar term is marked with the hashtag "your mother is telling you to put on long johns" — a running national joke about the annual handover of thermal underwear from parent to grown child — alongside hashtags for eating dumplings on the day.
Eating dumplings on the Start of Winter is a custom across northern China, captured in the folk saying that one must "eat dumplings at the start of winter or risk frostbitten ears". The dumpling's shape is said to echo that of the ear, and the meal doubles as a send-off for the harvest and a greeting to the cold months ahead.
Editor：韩蒙蒙