He recalls how in his childhood, when the osmanthus had just come into bloom, his family would spread sheets of white cloth under the trees, then put nooses of rope around branches and pull them tight in tourniquets which would cut off the sap and cause the flowers to fall. They would then dry them in the shade and mix them with sugar, to be used to make sweet New Year cakes.
「家鄉採桂花是用『拉』的」，他記得童年每在桂花初放時，家人會在樹下鋪上白布單，然後用繩子套住桂枝緊抽，利用韌帶失水的原理，讓桂花紛紛落下，然後陰乾漬糖，做成桂花醬後，才能泡茶制糕。