From early November to mid-November, it is the last beautiful period of late autumn in Beijing.

Once this period of time has passed, the trees in the capital will almost be bare.

The autumn wind will blow fallen leaves all over the ground, and the temperature will drop rapidly.

Maybe it only takes one night of strong winds to cool down the temperature, and we can cross freezing in one step.

Those people could no longer stand it with just their autumn clothes and long trousers.

Therefore, this period is also the busiest time for people in Beijing before winter begins.

Every household is busy and has to make necessary preparations for winter.

First, you need to prepare winter cotton-padded clothes and quilts.

At the same time, remove and wash old quilt covers, sheets, and pillowcases. After washing, you have to dry them and replace them.

Second, owners of bungalows must take newspapers and rice paste and tape up the cracks in the windows to prevent air leakage in the cold weather.

The third is to prepare a stove for heating, install a chimney, buy briquettes, and buy firewood.

Fourth, you have to have enough money to buy Chinese cabbage for winter storage.

Especially the last one makes the most noise and makes people enjoy it the most.

Beginning in 1959, in order to ensure that Beijing citizens can have a planned supply of one pound of cabbage per person per day in winter.

From November 1st to 10th every year, it has become the day when the municipal government organizes a centralized market supply of Chinese cabbage stored in winter.

The municipal government stipulates that Beijing citizens must purchase winter cabbage in designated National Day vegetable stores with purchase orders based on quotas.

This is the origin of Chinese cabbage stored in winter.

People in this era say that the symbol of winter in the capital is Chinese cabbage, and this is absolutely true.

Because during this period, in order to ensure the supply of Chinese cabbage, the Beijing City Government will jointly set up an "Autumn Vegetable Command" with more than a dozen units, and use various resources to solve problems encountered in the production, marketing and transportation of Chinese cabbage without delay.

Count one after another, people really live for cabbage.

Buying Chinese cabbage has become a "people's war" involving everyone in and outside the city. The scene is extremely spectacular.

Since it is a war, of course there are those who are on the vanguard.

So who is the vanguard?

There is no doubt that the vegetable farmers in the suburbs of Beijing are absolutely doing their part.

As the saying goes, “If you don’t chop vegetables at the beginning of winter, you will definitely suffer”.

Since the vegetables in the fields cannot withstand the wind and cold at this time, they will freeze if not harvested in time.

Therefore, in order to prevent Chinese cabbage from freezing in the fields, harvesting overwintering vegetables has become a top priority for farmers in the suburbs of Beijing.

Needless to say, when farmers are busy, transportation companies have to be busy, and vegetable stores will also change drastically.

Just watch it, starting at three o'clock in the morning on November 1st.

There will be countless carriages and trucks pulling cabbage on the streets of the capital, and they can even drive unimpeded in front of Tiananmen Square.

The city's 1,200 vegetable shops and temporary food outlets have all installed strings outside their vegetable sheds and replaced them with large 100-watt light bulbs.

The salesperson selling cabbage put on cotton shoes, cotton coat, cotton hat and cotton gloves in advance, and stood ready outside guarding the big pound, waiting for the cabbage to arrive.

They also posted notices recruiting people with family difficulties to work as temporary workers, and were paid 1.5 yuan a day.

The job content is to spend the night at the vegetable station, loading and unloading cabbage at night.

Even unrelated units are affected.

Since both members of a dual-income family have to go to work, they can directly ask for leave from their workplace in order to buy cabbage.

When encountering this reason, the employer cannot treat it as a private matter and must immediately grant leave.

Will this still affect work progress and arrangements?

So the most realistic scene is when the tall horses outside the city spray white mist and pull mountains of cabbage.

The first group of people waiting to buy food queued up several hundred meters in front of various vegetable stations.

Men, women, old and young, who wrapped themselves tightly in hats, coats, scarves and masks, all went out with their families carrying supplies.

People are particularly persistent and patient, waiting no matter how late it is.

But as cart after cart of cabbage was unloaded, it piled up into a mountain.

On the sample table of the vegetable shop, cabbages divided into first-class, second-class, third-class and other categories are also displayed.

No one could remain calm anymore.

Once the vegetables are being sold and the sounds of people weighing and counting money are heard, the originally quiet team suddenly becomes restless.

People at the back of the queue began to look at the front with anxiety, wishing that the queue could move faster.

And those at the front of the team also knew not to waste time.

Amidst the urging of the vegetable sellers, they worked hard to load the various vehicles they brought with their selected cabbages as quickly as possible.

In this way, they were transported back again and again like ants moving.

You won't feel at ease until you have stored four to five hundred kilograms, or even thousands of kilograms.

However, after I finish shopping and take the vegetables back, it’s not done yet.

Every household also has to place Chinese cabbage all over the courtyard and windowsill, stack it up and dry it in the sun.

When the weather gets cold, we have to cover them tightly with straw curtains and old quilts.

In this way, piles of stored winter vegetables and rows of jars and jars containing pickled vegetables have become the special scenery of the capital welcoming winter.

To be honest, during this period, even the vegetable stations and cabbage dumplings thrown by residents were piled up in mountains and piles.

The open-air garbage dumps outside the city, without exception, are all covered with cabbage leaves.

Those who have not experienced it personally will not understand the enthusiasm of people in the capital who rush to buy groceries and stock up in large quantities.

Maybe they will be curious, why did people love winter cabbage so much?

Actually the answer is very simple.

The first is nothing more than a lack of materials and backward productivity.

Although in the 1970s, the capital already had mature greenhouse cultivation technology, and many foreign vegetables were also introduced.

Unfortunately, due to industrial limitations, there are too few plastic films and they have not been widely used.

Without a greenhouse, how can we stay "out of season"?

Therefore, many lettuces, celery, red cabbage, lettuce, bulb fennel, and cherry tomatoes are not uncommon thirty years later.

At this time, it was still a special dish sold only in foreign-related hotels and shops.

The opportunities that ordinary people can see are only displayed in the four major vegetable markets in Beijing during important festivals to reflect the richness of the vegetable markets.

On the other hand, the shelves of ordinary vegetable shops that supply ordinary people are often empty in winter, with only wilted potatoes and spicy radishes "on duty".

Occasionally, I can get the "three yellows and one white" (potatoes, Japanese melons, onions, and cabbage) together, and before the truck can be unloaded, there is a long queue at the door.

At its worst, the counter was as clean as if it had been "licked" by a dog.

The vegetable salesman squatted outside the gate in boredom all day long, basking in the sun.

Think about it then? Why don’t the people buy more cabbage and save it?

It's okay for people not to eat fruits, but it's absolutely impossible not to eat vegetables.

Otherwise, mouth sores will occur due to lack of vitamins, and dry stools will occur due to lack of plant fiber.

Second, the government subsidizes Chinese cabbage for winter storage.

Before going on the market, the Price Bureau has carried out tiered pricing for Chinese cabbage.

First-class dishes are worth six cents and six cents, second-level dishes are six cents, and third-level dishes are five cents and four cents.

This price is subsidized by the Beijing city government more than double.

To put it bluntly, this is a benefit enjoyed by a Beijing household registration. Buying food is equivalent to money from the government. Can you not want it? Of course you have to rush to buy it.

On the other hand, if this momentum passes, the price of cabbage will be much more expensive than during the concentrated supply period.

When people go to the market to buy cabbage, the original price is 1.5 cents. How many times has it increased in one go?

The cabbage bought at this time is called "bargaining vegetable".

In an era when there were few alternatives to other vegetables, relying on "bargaining vegetables" to survive the winter would be a big expense.

All in all, it is for these reasons.

These days, few people can live alone and don't have to worry about storing vegetables for winter.

Even people like Song Huagui, who earns more than 10,000 yuan a month and can only eat the "special dishes" of Friendship Store with their whole family, are the same.

Because after all, she still has parents in the capital, it is impossible for the two elderly people to follow her and enjoy the luxurious standard of living of capitalism with peace of mind.

This is especially true for others such as leading cadres, university professors, and famous actors.
To be continued...