For many peoplein Hangzhou, a typical way to start winteris to eat mutton in Cangqian. The mutton hot potin Cangqian has been around for hundreds of years, which has become the representative of Yuhang cuisine.

The 15th Cangqian Yangguo Festival(in Chinese: 仓前羊锅节), known as the festival of mutton hot potin Cangqian, began at Yangguo Village on Nov 8 and will last until around the Spring Festival.

In China, according to Traditional Chinese Medicine, mutton is sorted as a warm-natured food that would bring warm heat to the body, and therefore mutton soup is a good recipe for winter.

“The slaughtered and cleaned sheep will be put into the pot on the whole and cooked for four to five hours along with spices of garlic, fennel, cinnamon, and so on,”said Ni Xiaoming,owner of a mutton hotpot restaurantin Yangguo Village.

Mutton hot pot has a history of more than 100 years in Cangqian Town in the west of Hangzhou.

In the past,there were many farmersin Gexiang Villagein Cangqian specializing in slaughtering and purchasing mutton.When the big chunks of muttonwere sold out,other small parts, such as the head, feet, and offal, were often left over. Farmers would cook these mutton scraps in large pots toeat, and share this mutton hot pot withfriends.This is called Taoyangguo (in Chinese: 掏羊锅).

“Tao” means take out in Chinese. Here, it has two meanings. One is to take "belly food" from the sheep, the other is to take some mutton scraps from the pot to eat.

Thefestivalhas been sponsored by the government of Cangqian since 2006, and has received warm welcome from the guestsover the past 15 years. Up to now, it has developed into a large-scale festival activity with high participation and wide influence in the Yangtze River Delta region.

As usual, the hot pot is supplied in three sizes: the small one for 2 to 4 people costs 300 yuan, the medium one for 5 to 7 people 600 yuan, and the large one for 8 to 12 people 860 yuan.

“Due to the impact of the epidemic, the price of mutton and labor costs have increased this year. But after our negotiation, the price of mutton hot pot remains unchanged,” said Luo Yuhua, president of the Mutton Hot Pot Association in Cangqian. “We hope this festival can bring people a warmer life.”

You may go to Yanggou village by car or by bus 450 and get off at Tiaoxi Village or Wushanqian Village.