I’m going to become your handy wikipedia in this post because I didn’t even know there was such a festival until the other day and wanted to share with anyone who may be interested. Donzhi Festival was on December 22, 2017 and like everyone else, celebs spent it getting together with family and having dumplings and tangyuan (pictured above courtesy of Huang Xiaoming).
Dongzhi Festival 冬至 which translates to extreme of winter is also known as the Winter Solstice Festival. The exact day is calculated based on the Lunar Calendar and typically takes place around December 21 – December 23. On this day, the daytime in the Northern Hemisphere is at its shortest and the nighttime is at its longest. What follows are the coldest times of the year. The event is signifiant as it relates to the balance of yin and yang in that the winter solstice is yin at its peak and as the days grow longer, so does the yang. Meanwhile, if you’re simply curious how dumplings are made, Qiao Xin gives us a sneak peek.
Unknown
Tangyuan are just balls of glutinous rice flour so are similar to mochi. Fillings are usually sesame paste, peanuts, etc. Cannot give large tangyuan to small kids bec they can cause choking.
Unknown
I consumed lots of wonton noodle soups when I was a kid. Dumplings are just larger and have thicker wrapper than wontons. I have also consumed some dumpling noodle soups when I was a kid. Dumplings have more space inside so they can also have some vegetables inside in the healthier versions of dumplings.
Sunny
This was interesting and made me hungry! I love reading about the winter and Christmas traditions in other cultures.