In Jiangnan, it is a traditional custom to eat jiaozi on the solstice in winter. Eating jiaozi on the solstice in winter is also called jiaozi, which means round. Most Cantonese people will "add dishes" on the solstice in winter, and barbecue has become an indispensable traditional food on the table. Up to now, China Taiwan Province Province still has the tradition of worshipping ancestors with nine-layer cakes on the solstice in winter. Animals such as chickens and ducks are made of glutinous rice flour and steamed to worship their ancestors to show that they don't forget their ancestors.
The solstice in winter (alias Jiujiu, Winter Festival, Long Festival and Sub-year) is the 22nd solar term in the "24 solar terms". The longitude of the sun reaches 270, and the date is Gregorian calendar 12, 2 1 or 22, 23, which is a traditional festival of the Chinese nation. The winter solstice is the southernmost point of the sun's direct point. On the day of winter solstice, the sun shines directly on the Tropic of Cancer, and the sun is most inclined to the northern hemisphere with the smallest elevation angle, which is the shortest day and the longest night in the northern hemisphere.
The significance of winter solstice
The solstice in winter is also a turning point for the direct sunlight to return to the north. After this day, the point of direct sunlight will move northward from the Tropic of Cancer (23 26' s), and the daytime in the northern hemisphere will increase day by day. The solstice of winter indicates that the cold season is coming, and people begin to count the cold days. There is a folk saying that the solstice in winter is as big as a year, but different places have different customs from the solstice in winter.
Most northerners have the custom of eating jiaozi, while most southerners have the custom of eating sweets. The solstice around winter is a good time to build water conservancy, build farmland capital and accumulate fertilizer. At the same time, wax fertilizer should be applied to prevent freezing. In the south of the Yangtze River, it is necessary to strengthen the management of winter crops, clear ditches and drain water, cultivate the soil to take root, and carry out hard tillage on the uncultivated winter soil to loosen the soil, enhance the ability of water storage and conservation, and eliminate overwintering pests.