What's this?
Cold Dew is the seventeenth of the twenty-four solar terms, usually on October 8 or 9 every year. "Han" means cold, and "Lu" means dew - meaning that the dew has started to get colder, no longer cool, but with a chill.
If white dew is a signal that "the dew turns white", then cold dew is a warning that "the dew turns cold". Autumn is really deep and winter is not far away.
Why is it important?
Cold Dew was a turning point.
During the white dew period, Chinese people still eat pears and lilies to moisten autumn dryness. When it comes to Cold Dew, the focus of diet begins to shift - from "moistening" to "warming".
Because the dew becomes colder, it means that the temperature difference between morning and evening further increases, and cold air begins to penetrate upward from the surface. If you eat something too cold or too moist at this time, it will easily hurt the spleen and stomach.
There is an old saying: "The cold dew does not expose your feet." It means that after the cold dew, don't wear sandals barefoot, as the cold air will enter the body from the soles of the feet. The same goes for food - it needs to start to be "warm".
How to do it?
The dietary keywords of Hanlu are: warming, nourishing, moistening with warmth.
What to eat?
- Sesame seeds - it is an old tradition to eat sesame seeds during cold weather. Sesame seeds are moist and nourishing for the liver and kidneys.
- Walnut - warm in nature, nourishing the brain and improving intelligence
- Red dates - warm and nourish qi and blood
-Yam - tonic, strengthens the spleen and stomach
- Mutton - you can eat a small amount at first to warm up and dispel cold.
- Persimmons - Eat persimmons during cold weather to moisten the lungs and relieve coughs, but don’t eat them on an empty stomach
How to eat?
-Drink a bowl of hot porridge in the morning with some red dates and walnuts in it
- You can start eating some warm meat at noon, such as mutton soup and beef
- Don’t eat too cold at night, and warm the fruit before eating it.
- Drinking tea has shifted from green tea to black tea and Pu'er
Life Adjustments
- Stop wearing sandals and put on socks
- Soak your feet at night and add some ginger or mugwort leaves
- Go to bed early and don't stay up late, because autumn is the main reason for restraint
When?
October 8 or 9 every year. By this time it is already very cold in the north, and the south is beginning to feel the chill of autumn.
Where?
Cold dew has been experienced across the country, but the feeling is more pronounced in the north. People in the Northeast may already need to wear thick coats, but those in the Yangtze River region may need to add a thin sweater sooner or later.
One sentence summary
> Cold dew doesn't tell you that winter is coming, it reminds you that it's time to put the word "warm" in your menu.