There is a saying, “on the Minor Heat, ricefield eel is as savory as ginseng”. That is why Nanjing locals eat it on the day. Living in waterside mud, ricefield eels taste best in the month around the Minor Heat. Another folk custom is eating lotus roots on the Minor Heat. Fresh lotus roots are simmered, sliced and dressed with honey.

On Toufu, people of Xuzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province would eat mutton, a custom said to originate from the period of Sage Kings Yao and Shun. As the saying goes, a bowl of mutton soup is so salutary that it makes the prescription of highly skilled doctor unnecessary. The passion of Xuzhou people towards mutton can be seen in such a line of folk song: bringing your married daughter back and treating her with baked cakes made of newly-harvested wheat and mutton soup.