Winter Vittles

After all the years I've lived in Hong Kong, you'd think I'd be used to winter, but the season has a way with messing with you.

In a day or two the temperature can drop from a pleasant 20C to a nighttime low of about 5C. Five degrees centigrade doesn't sound cold by Canadian standards, but my blood has thinned.

Couple that with massive fat loss and no heating system in the flat, and you begin to understand. Just sitting at my desk causes the extremities to go numb, which necessitates the use of a space heater and/or a constant intake of hot liquids.

The upside is great winter meals such as hot pot or a nice big bowl of hot and sour soup, which you never eat during summer unless you enjoy sweating buckets.

Snake soup is also touted as a good cold-weather remedy. I still haven't tried it, but a shop in nearby Tai Po is often full of locals only too happy to indulge in a bowl, so I'm going to give it a go.

Should you ever visit Hong Kong in January, be sure to try winter foods: you'll ward off the chills and enjoy the some of the season's best features.

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