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Toasting by a fire  by Qiu Li Min
W hen I first saw these upended woven baskets on sale in Du’an, Guangxi Province, I thought, “Surely this can’t be a cage for
birds or animals?” The baskets also didn’t have any bases, so they wouldn’t have
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A cage? A container?


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Bags of charcoal for sale


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Keeping warm!

been much good as cages. At the same time, with all the big holes, the baskets didn’t seem very useful as containers. However, as the cold days of winter drew in, I saw how the local people used the baskets–- for keeping warm!

In Guangxi, because the winter is considered ‘warm’ in comparison with the northern parts of the country, housing is generally unheated. However, daytime temperatures can fall to 10°C or lower, making it cold enough to require some form of heating. Although electric heaters are now more commonly used in the cities, the traditional method is still practiced in small towns and villages today. The method is very simple – a pan of glowing charcoal or wood is placed under one of these baskets. The large holes allow heat to escape while the frame acts as a fireguard. To limit heat loss upwards, users often cover the basket with a blanket and sit with the edges of the blanket over their knees. The top of the basket also serves as a handy table-top! In the local Zhuang language, this is known as "boq¹ feiz¹" meaning “toasting by a fire”. If you visit someone in the winter, you will be greeted with, “Come and toast by the fire!”




¹ In Zhuang orthography for this dialect, the tone letters 'q' and 'z' denote mid-level and rising-falling tones respectively.