The joy of the autumn harvest has not yet dissipated. The northwest wind blows, and the cold gradually invades clothing. The beginning of winter comes quietly. The beginning of winter is the first solar term in winter, which is celebrated on November 7-8 of the Gregorian calendar. The Book of Rites · The Order of the Moon records that there are three stages at the beginning of winter, one stage is "water begins to ice", and the water begins to freeze; Second, the land began to freeze; In the third season, "the pheasant enters the flood and becomes a mirage". The pheasant is a big bird like pheasant, and the mirage is a clam. After the beginning of winter, there were few big birds in the sky. Clams appeared on the seashore. The pattern of the clams was similar to the feather color of the pheasants. The ancient people believed that it was the pheasants who ran into the water and became clams. The circulation of life and the change of species were interpreted as romantic imagination by the ancients. The Collection of Seventy Two Marquises of the Moon says, "Winter is the end, and all things are collected." Plants and trees wither in nature, animals prepare for hibernation, and grain is also stored in warehouses. There is a folk saying that "When frost comes down to pickle cabbage, cattle will not be raised in the beginning of winter". After the autumn harvest is over, farming will stop for a while, and people are happily preparing for the coming of winter. According to tradition, from the beginning of the winter to the beginning of the spring of the next year, the temperature is low, which is the most suitable time for making yellow rice wine, called "winter wine". Around the beginning of winter, yellow rice wine begins to be fed. There is a saying in Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province that "sons should be born in person, and old wine should be brewed in winter". "Old wine" is the local dialect of Shaoxing people who call yellow rice wine. The ancient method of Dongniang involves a series of steps such as soaking rice, steaming rice, dropping the vat, feeding, pre fermentation, raking, pot filling and post fermentation, pressing, filtering, boiling wine, and pot sealing and aging. The most critical step is raking. Rake opening refers to manually adjusting the temperature of rice mash. The process is extremely complex and must be checked by experienced teachers. These teachers are affectionately called "wine brains" in the distillery, and they are the soul figures in the brewing process. The fermentation degree of the fermented mash is controlled by the feeling of "wine mind" to see, touch, smell and taste. If the fermentation is appropriate, the taste of the finished wine will be sweet and fresh. After raking, the wine mash is put into pottery jars separately, covered with lotus leaves and jars, and neatly stacked outdoors for "post fermentation", waiting for 3 months after the spring harvest. At the beginning of winter, people kill chickens and sheep or use other nutrients to supplement, which is called "winter supplement". As the saying goes, "The beginning of winter makes up for the winter, and the mouth is empty", which means that it is time to eat something good. People eat some cold food to replenish calories, enrich vitality, and prepare for the cold. Beijingers like to eat buckwheat noodles at Lidong; Chaoshan people pay attention to eating sugar cane in winter, which is believed to protect teeth; Shantou eats fried rice made of lotus seeds, mushrooms, chestnuts, shrimps and carrots in the winter; People in Wuxi like to eat dumplings at the beginning of winter. There is an old custom in Nanjing to eat raw onions at the beginning of winter. In winter, it is often wet and cold in the south of the Yangtze River. The onions taste pungent and have a slightly warm nature. They can detoxify, flavor, and promote the circulation of yang, so as to facilitate the transportation of qi and reduce the incidence of diseases. Therefore, there is a folk saying that "one and a half onions a day, and the legs are windy in winter". In the old days, due to limited conditions, people did not bathe very often in winter. Sarcoptes and fleas were easy to breed and cause skin diseases. It was necessary to clean the body and keep the skin healthy on the beginning of winter. According to the Old Stories of Wulin in Zhoumi of the Southern Song Dynasty, people bathed in water with chrysanthemums and honeysuckle on the beginning of winter. "Shanghai Proverbs" in the early years of the Republic of China