The 22nd marks the start of “Light Snow” (Xiaoxue), the second solar term of winter. As the old almanac notes, by this time the sky has gathered cloud, the cold is not yet deep and the snow not yet heavy — hence the name “Light Snow.” Across much of northern China temperatures now fall below 0°C, and the cold air finally brings a chill even to the far south. Traditional Chinese medicine practitioners hold that the keynote of wellness in this term is warming the body and guarding against cold.
In terms of diet, from Light Snow onward one should eat more foods that are high in energy and that nourish the brain and circulation. This is a season for warming, tonifying foods and kidney-nourishing foods. Warming foods include lamb, beef, chicken and venison; kidney-nourishing foods include cashews, foxnut (gorgon fruit), congee made with Chinese yam, chestnuts stewed with meat, ginkgo stewed with chicken, bone broth and walnuts.
It is also good to eat more “black foods” during Light Snow, such as black fungus, black sesame and black soybeans. Black rice, for instance, has anthocyanin pigments in its outer bran layer that help resist ageing, and is rich in flavonoid compounds — about five times as much as white rice — which greatly help prevent arteriosclerosis.