Bringing friends together through ritual

Many residents in Hougang village in Tinglin town of Shanghai's Jinshan district begin their day with a warm bowl of mutton soup and a cup of yellow rice wine.

Maoshi jiu, which means "drinking between 5 and 7 am", is an old tradition and part of the food culture of this area dating back hundreds of years.

Nestled along the waterways of Shanghai's suburbs, this market town was a hub for merchants and traders beginning in the late Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and early Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). In the 1960s and 70s, it was still bustling with streets lined with shops, teahouses, grocery stores, oil mills, pharmacies, fabric stores, and butcher shops.

With its extensive waterways, Hougang was once a busy dock where many boats would moor. Boatmen, who typically started their days before dawn, would sip rice wine to warm their bodies and gear up for the heavy physical work, especially during winter.

While such a tradition is generally shared across Zhejiang province, the rice wine is unique in Hougang for its perfect match with the local mutton soup. Zhou Huiyun, the 56-year-old owner of a local maoshi jiu restaurant, told China Daily that the local mutton features "a tender texture with rich umami, but no gamey taste".