Beginning of Winter 立冬

Chinese divided a year into 24 solar terms (节气). Every 7th or 8th day of November is the day of Beginning of Winter in 24 Solar Terms on the lunar calendar of China, which is also the first solar term in winter.

立冬(lìdōng) means autumn have come to the end, all kinds of crops harvested in autumn have been dried and stored and animals have already hidden and started to hibernate in the ancient books. Beginning of Winter also means weather is getting cold all the creatures have begun to slow down their rate of metabolism to avoid the coldness in winter..

Every season haa it`s  solar terms. Beginning of Winter, together with Beginning of Spring, Beginning of Summer and Beginning of Autumn, are called "四立(sìlì) " (four beginnings), which were very important festivals in ancient China. On these days, the emperor would lead officials to set up altars for sacrifice in the northern suburbs of the capital.

At present, Beginning of Winter is the best time for taking winter tonic like dishes of stewed duck with wine and ginger and Sesame Oil Chicken in the south of China. Because Beginning of Winter is at the turn of seasons, in the northern China, Beijing and Tianjin in particular, people prefer to eat Jiaozi on the day. Thanks to the return of this traditional custom, all kinds of restaurants featuring Jiaozi are crowded with customers on the day.