Storyline: Sales of hotpot ingredients heat up in China as autumn sets in [Voice_over] In China, as autumn temperatures dip, a cool-weather staple is back on the menu - hotpot. The meal consists of cooking chunks of meat, veg or other morsels in a shared pot of bubbling broth or oil. At a shop in central China's Zhengzhou, customers snap up packaged ingredients including mushrooms and fish balls. Workers at a nearby factory, meanwhile, process another favorite ingredient- thinly sliced pieces of meat-about 100 tons daily. Another factory still is preparing the broth to cook the ingredients- this one is infused with spicy chili peppers. The plant director says they're processing 7 to 8 more tons of broth this month compared to last. [Sound_bite] Zhang Shen, director, hotpot ingredient plant: "We usually stir fry 18 tons [of chilies] per day. But now its 25 to 26 tons per day." [Voice_over] Official data shows that revenue from China's hotpot market was more than 86 billion U.S. dollars last year and is expected to hit 91 billion this year. [Restrictions : No access Chinese mainland]