Eat dumplings in Shandong on the winter solstice.

Every year on the winter solstice of the Chinese Lunar New Year, whether rich or poor, jiaozi is an essential holiday meal. As the saying goes, "On October 1st, when the winter solstice comes, every family eats dumplings." This custom was left in memory of Zhang Zhongjing, a "medical sage", who gave up medicine on the winter solstice. A considerable part of Shandong will eat wonton or dumplings on this day. Some even drink. It is said that drinking is to warm the body. Eating jiaozi is afraid of freezing your ears. "Dumplings" is homophonic for "rubber ears".

The winter solstice is a festival full of traditional culture. By participating in activities such as making jiaozi and eating glutinous rice balls, people can not only feel the warmth of home and the strength of family ties, but also better understand and inherit the traditional culture of China. At the same time, in this cold winter, people can also take this opportunity to enhance their physical fitness and keep healthy.

What to do in the winter solstice

The winter solstice is one of the traditional solar terms in China, and it is also an important folk festival. On the winter solstice, people will carry out a series of activities to celebrate this special moment. Among them, the most important custom is to eat jiaozi and glutinous rice balls.

First of all, jiaozi is an essential activity in the winter solstice. The whole family will get together, mix the dough, roll the skin and mix the stuffing, and then make jiaozi together. Jiaozi is shaped like an ingot, which symbolizes abundant financial resources and also symbolizes reunion and harmony. When cooking jiaozi, people will also put some coins, candy and other things in the pot to show the homonym of "Jiaozi", which means that the next year will be prosperous.

Besides making jiaozi, there is also the custom of eating glutinous rice balls on the winter solstice. Tangyuan is a round food made of glutinous rice flour, which contains various fillings, such as black sesame seeds, peanuts and walnuts. When cooking dumplings, people will add some distiller's grains or eggs to the hot soup of dumplings to increase the taste and nutritional value. After eating glutinous rice balls, people will put the remaining glutinous rice balls on the door or window sill to show evil spirits.