Mao Xiang — a local wild herb known as cudweed (Gnaphalium affine) — is one of Qianshan’s seasonal gifts of spring. Freshly picked herbs are crushed into juice and kneaded into glutinous rice dough, then filled with savory preserved pork and steamed in a bamboo steamer for about 20 minutes until soft and fragrant. When the lid is opened, the distinctive herbal aroma instantly fills the air. The cakes, deep green in color, look soft and delicate. One bite releases the gentle fragrance of wild spring herbs alongside the chewy sweetness of glutinous rice, as if the entire season had been wrapped into a single mouthful. For locals, these rice cakes are more than food — they are part of the Qingming Festival itself, a spring ritual passed down through generations.