Vegetables hang on guardrails in Nanjing in November 2004. Residents had hung up the greens so they could be dried and pickled. There was a time in China when vegetables were hard to come by in the winter, and the practice of preserving vegetables for the colder months continues. Photo: VCG

Residents dry cabbages in Northeast China’s Liaoning province on Oct. 24. The dried vegetables will be stored for winter. Photo: VCG

In a neighborhood in the eastern city of Nanjing in November 2017, space for drying vegetables outside in scarce. Photo: VCG

Radish slices hang from a clothing rack in Nanjing in 2006. Photo: VCG

White radish slices hang from a fishing net in Xiaogan, Central China’s Hubei province, on Nov. 26. Photo: VCG

A woman hangs sausages on a bamboo rack in Nanjing in December 2005. Photo: VCG

A fisherman dries fish in December 2017 for the coming winter. Photo: VCG

A worker hangs pig legs to dry into hams in Dongyang, Zhejiang province, in December 2017. This drying yard can accommodate more 200,000 hams. Photo: VCG