Anyone for Some Slaw?

Some habits are hard to change—even among global powerhouses like China. As soon as the snow flies, Beijing stockpiles bundles of green joy: cabbage.

Once a gambit against bitter winters, dismal memories of Mao Zedong’s Great Leap Forward policies, and the very real threat of starvation they wrought, the cabbage caches accrue on corners, in courtyards, on window ledges. Hoarding begins in November, when farmers bring their wares to cities for sale. Kimchi, anyone?   —Diane Richard, writer, December 18

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Images: Gilles Sabrie for The New York Times

Source: Andrew Jacobs, “As Winter Nears, Chinese Capital Is Blanketed in Green,” New York Times, December 11, 2013