Mouse-shaped balls. [Photo/WeChat account: zsqdly]

If you had to pick a food to represent winter in Zhoushan, it would surely be mouse-shaped balls, chestnuts roasted with sugar, baked sweet potatoes, scallion pancakes and mustard rice cakes.

Mouse-shaped balls are made of sweet potato starch. With its yellow color and slender shape, the snack looks like a mouse, hence the name.

Chestnuts roasted with sugar. [Photo/WeChat account: zsqdly]

A freshly-made mouse-shaped ball tastes waxy and smells like sweet potato.

Chestnuts roasted with sugar and baked sweet potatoes are the most popular snack in the country in winter, many people wait in long lines for a taste of them. If the air is permeated with the fragrance of roasted chestnuts and baked sweet potatoes, Zhoushan residents know that winter has come.

Baked sweet potatoes. [Photo/WeChat account: zsqdly]

Unlike the sweet and soft taste of roasted chestnuts and baked sweet potatoes, scallion pancakes taste salty and crispy, and their special fragrance provides some comfort from the chilly weather.

Scallion pancakes. [Photo/WeChat account: zsqdly]

No winter in Zhoushan is perfect without some mustard rice cakes. When followed with a sip of warm soup, they're the ideal winter treat.

Mustard rice cakes. [Photo/WeChat account: zsqdly]