Like！中国节---处暑

大家好，今天是处暑, The End of Heat.

处暑 means 出暑，out of heat，which refers to the official goodbye to summer heat.

After the End of Heat, the temperature gap between day and night widens, making people more susceptible to common colds and influenza. Here in Shanghai, the day-and-night temperature gap ranges between 8 and 15 degrees Celsius, so please pay attention to it and choose the right clothes.

Signature plants for 处暑 period include 昙花, the night-blooming cereus, or moon flower. It usually blooms during the 处暑 period because of the warm days and cool nights. The white and fragrant flowers blossom at night and wilt before morning.昙花 has long been a symbol of yearning for a beautiful life. If you are a gardener, take a photo when your moon flower opens and post it on your Moments. It will make you the focus of social media. 昙花 is beautiful for sure, and it is also a medicine. You can either steep the petals in your tea or stew it in your soup. TCM practitioners say it’s good for the respiratory system.

During the End of Heat period, one folk tradition calls for eating duck, which is a cooling food under TCM. The most renowned one is 北京烤鸭 Peking Roast Duck. This dish is known worldwide for its shiny color, crispy skin and tender meat. Pickled duck from Nanjing 南京盐水鸭, Cantonese-style roast duck 广东烧鸭and ginger duck from Quanzhou 泉州姜母鸭 are other delicacies you can reward yourself with during this period. For people here in the city, 上海酱鸭，stewed duck in soy sauce is a favorite. It’s a typical Shanghai dish with a thick red oily sauce. According to TCM, duck meat is good for the skin. Hmm, sounds like a good excuse for me to devour some duck meat during the dry autumn.

处暑到，酷暑消，愿你神清气爽，秋日无愁。