Slender wild bamboo shoots. [Photo/WeChat account: nbfb0574]

Today marks the beginning of the Start of Summer, the 7th term of the year, which ends on May 20 this year.

Here are some delicacies that natives of Ningbo in East China's Zhejiang province usually eat at the Start of Summer.

Boiled eggs in tea are quite necessary as local people believe that a round egg symbolizes a happy life and eating eggs on the day of the Start of Summer is a prayer for good health.

Parents prepare boiled eggs and put them in a knitted bag before hanging them on their child's chest and children gather together to play egg competitions by colliding each other's eggs in pairs; the one whose egg is not broken wins.

Steamed glutinous rice with broad beans and cured meat. [Photo/WeChat account: nbfb0574]

At this time of the year, plenty of wild bamboo shoots can be found on the market in Ningbo. Given the shoots' resemblance to human ankles, local farmers eat wild bamboo shoots at the Start of Summer to pray for a strong body for the following busy farming season.

Broad beans are another seasonal food popular in Ningbo. Local people usually steam them with glutinous rice and cured meat or stir fry them with Chinese chives.