If it is fresh zongzi leaves, it needs to be soaked for about two hours to wrap zongzi; If the leaves are hard and dry, they need to be soaked overnight or 12 hours before they can be wrapped. Before wrapping zongzi, soak the leaves in advance or cook them in boiling water to soften them, so that they will not be easily broken and the green taste of the leaves can be removed.

When you start cleaning the leaves, you should screen out the bad leaves in advance. Put the zongzi leaves in water with edible salt, and put them in a pot to cook for a while, and then take them out when the leaves are flexible. After taking out the leaves, wash the salt on the surface with clear water, then wipe the texture on both sides of the leaves with a wet cloth, and finally soak them in clear water.

There are many kinds of zongzi leaves, and the common ones are reed leaves, Indocalamus leaves, Cinnamomum cassia leaves, peach leaves, banana leaves, lotus leaves, zongba leaves, bamboo shoot shells and so on.

Indocalamus leaves are relatively large, so it has become a common zongye in the south of the Yangtze River. Indocalamus leaves are wider, not as slender as reed leaves. Indocalamus leaves are generally used to wrap triangular and quadrangular zongzi.