It is an old custom to have oral thick paste in the Start of Winter for the people of Suzhou. In ancient times, the rich family would use red ginseng, dried longan and walnuts to make soup, which has the effects of nourishing vitality, invigorating the circulation of blood and supporting the Yang. Every Start of Winter, the Chinese medicine hospitals and some old and famous drugstores set up clinics offering tonics for people.

People in Wuxi have the custom of eating tuanzi on Start of Winter Day. At this time, the autumn crops have just been sold on the market, and the tuanzi made by the newly-harvested crops tastes delicious. Most rural residents make tuanzi by themselves, while the urban residents would buy the ready-made tuanzi. The stuffing of tuanzi could be sweet bean paste, radish or lard. The filling made with soy sauce tastes particularly good.

Changzhou: "filling the empty mouth” The people of Changzhou have a custom of nourishing the winter for a long time. The people who work hard all year round have a day rest on Start of Winter Day, and reward the whole family with some tonic. There is an old saying goes: nourishing the winter on the Start, and filling the empty mouth. That is explaining why the clinics offering the tonics become popular every Start of Winter Day.