An extreme climate

The climate in much of northern China is harsh and unforgiving. Summers can reach 45°C/113°F, while winter temperatures fall to -20°C/-4°F, with bitterly cold winds coursing through from the Mongolian steppes. The growing season diminishes the further north you go; in Manchuria there are only 90 frost-free days per year. The old saying that the northern Chinese will eat ‘anything with legs, except a table; and anything that flies, except an aeroplane’ refers to the inventiveness of the cuisine and the people who developed it, who have to just make the best of whatever can be grown in the difficult climate: this they manage with panache.