Cold Dew is the first of the 24 solar terms with the word “Cold” in its name. There is a saying which goes, “After the day of the Cold Dew, people are rarely seen wearing single layer clothes,” which means that weather is beginning to become cold at the beginning of the Cold Dew period, and remains fairly cold for a while thereafter, rendering additional clothes necessary for proper homeostasis. Cold Dew is a season when chrysanthemums come into flowers. In order to prevent autumn dryness, many regions in China have the custom of drinking chrysanthemum wine.

People of the Dong ethnic group in western Hunan Province also have the custom of making kippers during the Cold Dew period. It’s said that the kipper made on the day of the Cold Dew with accessory foods such as rice wine, salt, glutinous rice, pepper powder, paprika powder and ginger is especially delicious.

Southern Hunan Province is a producing area of seeds of the tung tree and the famous oil-tea camellia. People are not allowed to go to the mountains to pick those things until the Cold Dew comes around. Therefore, adults and children will all go to mountains to pick oil-tea camellias on the day of the Cold Dew.