There is a folk proverb: "On October 1st, when the winter solstice comes, every family eats dumplings." On the winter solstice, jiaozi is an indispensable traditional food. And most people in jiaozi will choose jiaozi with mutton stuffing on this day, because mutton is warm, which can warm the yang and drive out the cold.
In the northern region, in addition to eating dumplings on the winter solstice, Shandong also has the custom of drinking mutton soup, because most of the northern regions regard warm mutton as the best choice for winter tonic. After eating mutton soup on the winter solstice, they are not afraid of cold all winter. Therefore, the custom of drinking mutton soup on the winter solstice means driving away the cold.
The ancients believed that red beans and glutinous rice should be eaten on the winter solstice to ward off epidemic ghosts and prevent diseases. Therefore, in the southern region, there is a custom that the whole family get together to eat red beans and glutinous rice on the winter solstice. In addition, glutinous rice is sweet in taste and warm in nature, which can nourish healthy qi, keep out the cold and nourish, and is most suitable for eating in winter.
In Taiwan Province, there is a custom of worshipping ancestors on the winter solstice. The glutinous cake is an important sacrificial food for ancestor worship. Waxy cakes are made of glutinous rice flour into chickens, ducks, turtles, pigs, cows, sheep and other animals that symbolize good luck and good luck, and then steamed in layers in a steamer to worship ancestors to show that they will not forget their ancestors.
Every winter solstice in Zhejiang, southern Fujian, Jiangxi and other places, there is a custom of eating glutinous rice balls to celebrate family reunion and pray for good weather in the coming year. Rolling round is to knead glutinous rice into glutinous rice balls and then wrap them with potato powder. Compared with the glutinous rice balls eaten on weekdays, the glutinous rice balls are not only rich in content and different in forms, but also have the meaning of roundness and reunion.
Suzhou attaches great importance to the winter solstice, and there is a local saying that "the winter solstice is like a New Year". The night before the winter solstice every year is the winter solstice night of Suzhou people. At this time, everyone in Suzhou will drink winter wine. Winter brewing is a kind of rice wine, which is brewed with osmanthus flowers and has a pleasant aroma. Winter brewing was originally called dongyang wine, which was named after the rising of yang after the winter solstice.