Today is Dongzhi (Pinyin: Dōng zhì). It is the most important big day to CHINESE. Dongzhi means the Extreme of Winter, which is always around December 21 or 22 every year when sunshine is weakest and daylight shortest, i.e., on the first day of the dongzhi solar term.

The origins of this festival:

It can be traced back to the Yin and Yang philosophy of balance and harmony in the cosmos. After the celebration of this festival, there will be days with longer daylight hours and therefore an increase in positive energy flowing in. The philosophical signifcance of this is symbolized by the I Ching hexagram fu ( Returning). Traditionally, the Dongzhi Festival is also a time for the family to get together. Mostly, people will have gathering like westerners in Christmas. What do we eat in Dongzhi? After the big meal (Dinner), we chinese will make Tangyuan ( a ball of glutinous rice), which symbolize reunion.

Tangyuan is a Chinese food made from glutinous rice flour.

How to make it?

1) Glutinous rice flour mixed with a small amount of water to form balls;

2) Cooked and served in boiling water ( Can add some sugarcane while boiling water, so that the Tangyuan can be served with sweet soup~)

Tangyuan can be either filled or unfilled. It is traditionally eatern during Mid-Autumn Festival too! Tangyuan means “Family Unity” as I mentioned in the above.

The main ingredient of making Tangyuan is glutinous rice flour, the filling can be either sweet or savoury.

Sweet fillings can be:

• A piece of cut sugarcane rock candy;



• Sesame paste (ground black sesame seeds mixed with sugar and lard) – the most common filling;
• Red bean paste;
• 
• Chopped peanuts and sugar. Celebrated on the longest night of the year, Dong Zhi is the day when sunshine is weakest and daylight shortest. The coming of winter is celebrated by families and is traditionally the time when farmers and fishermen gather food in preparation for the coming cold season. It is also a time for family reunions.

Savoury filling is usually a pork meat ball.

I much prefer the tangyuan with sweet fillings especially with peanuts and sugar. It’s so delicious~ :-p

Pink and white tangyuan, symbolizing family unity and prosperity

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dongzhi

 (Dragon Boat Race)

Today 8 June,2008 is Tuen Ng Festival or Dragon Boat Festival or Duanwu Festival (traditional Chinese: 端午節; simplified Chinese: 端午节, Pinyin: Qū Yuán). It is another Chinese traditional and statutory holiday in China. There are a number of theories about its origins but the most commonly accepted version is related to the death of a poet named Qu Yuan in 278 BC. In this festival, it related to two things and a poet: 1) Dragon Boat, 2) Zongzi, 3) A poet named Qu Yuan. The following paragraphs are the history background about this festival.

Qu Yuan

Qu Yuan is a poet ( 340 BC- 279 BC) of the ancient state of Chu, in the Warring States Period (traditional Chinese: 戰國時代; simplified Chinese: 战国时代; pinyin: Zhànguó Shídài, also known as the Era of Warring States) of the Zhou Dynasty. A descendant of the Chu royal house, Qu served in high offices. However, when the king decided to ally with the increasingly powerful state of Qin, Qu was banished for opposing the alliance. During his exile, Qu Yuan wrote a great deal of poetry, for which he is now remembered. Twenty-eight years later, Qin conquered the Chu capital. In despair, Qu Yuan committed suicide by drowning himself in the Miluo River on the fifth day of the fifth month. Qu Yuan was accused of treason. Local people who admired him, threw food into the river to feed the fish so that they would not eat Qu Yuan’s body.

This is why Tuen Ng Festival occurs on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese calendar, we called “Double Fifth” in here and it is also a statutory holiday as I mentioned at the beginning. In this year, Tuen Ng festival falls on 8 June and next year, it will be on 28 May,2009.

You might know why the English name of Tuen Ng Festival named Dragon Boat Festival? The Dragon Boat Race is one of the traditional activities for this holiday till now~ As you can see the picture in the above. In the past, people believed that to have paddled out on boats, either to scare the fish away or to retrieve Qu’s body.

Wrapped Rice dumpling            Unwrapped Rice dumping      Jianshui zong fills with red beans

Furthermore, we also eat Zongzi / Rice Dumpling, which is a traditional Chinese food, made of glutinous rice stuffed with different fillings ( e.g. fat pork, green beans, mushroom) and wrapped in bamboo leaves and tie it by a seaweed or string. It cooked by steaming or boiling. Another common one is Jianshui zong (碱水粽), it fills with red beans only, people used to serve this kind of rice dumpling with sugar or syrup. Besides, there are many different kinds of rice dumplings fills with different things available in the market nowadays. :-p The fillings used for zongzi vary from region to region, filling maybe sweet or salty. The following are the ingredients might use for the fillings of the zongzi :

• Skinless mung beans
• Red bean paste
• Jujubes

Or savoury with fillings such as: (Highlighted in PINK are the ingredients commonly used for the fillings)

• Char siu (Chinese barbecue pork)
• Chinese sausage
• Chinese black mushrooms
• Salted duck eggs
• Chhestnuts
• Cooked peanuts
• Green beans
• Dried shrimp
• Scallops
• Red-cooked pork
• Curry Chicken

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuen_Ng_Festival

 (Burning paper gifts for the departed)

Today is Ching Ming Festival which also named Qingming Festival (traditional Chinese: 清明節; simplified Chinese: 清明节; pinyin: Qīngmíngjié). It means Clear and Bright Festival, is a traditional Chinese festival on the 104th day after the winter solstice (or the 15th day from the Spring Equinox), usually occurring around April 5 of the Gregorian calendar (see Chinese calendar). Every leap year, Qingming is on April 4. Since this year is leap year, so today Apr 4 is Qingming.

Astronomically, it is also a solar term (that we called in chinese: 節氣 ). In solar terms, the Qingming festival is on the 1st day of the 5th solar term, which is also named Qingming. Its name denotes a time for people to go outside and enjoy the greenery of springtime (” Treading on the greenery” or in chinese: 踏青 ), and also to tend to the graves of departed ones (That’s why people used to go to visit graves on that day or before that date). Nowadays, it is an official public holiday in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau. Even now, the Mainland China government has also set today as public holiday since this year.

What do people bring for visiting graves?

• Mostly, people will bring a big Roasted Pig, Paper gifts (which made by paper  in different forms : mobile phone, slippers, golds, paper notes, a servant, computer……), Fruits, bomsticks, Flowers, etc.  Actually,there are many other things that people would bring to visit graves lol~

Qingming was also in literature, the most famous and well known one by poet Du Mu.

The poem titled “Qingming” by Du Mu

A drizzling rain falls like tears on the Mourning Day;
The mourner’s heart is breaking on his way.
Where can a hostel be found to drown his sadness?
A cowherd points to Xing Hua village in the distance.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ching_Ming_Festival