A brief introduction to the festival customs of the Winter Solstice:

1. Painting Nine

The so-called Painting Nine is actually a picture used to calculate the date of spring after the winter solstice. "A Brief Introduction to Scenery of the Imperial Capital" of the Ming Dynasty records: "On the winter solstice, I painted a plain plum branch with eighty-one petals. When the sun dyes one petal, and the petals are gone and ninety-nine come out, it means spring is deep, and it is called the ninety-nine to relieve the cold." The "Nine-Nine Cold-repelling Picture" has three patterns, namely words, circles and plum blossoms.

2. Brewing rice wine

Traditional Gusu people will drink winter wine on the night of the winter solstice. Winter wine is brewed with glutinous rice or yellow rice and sweet-scented osmanthus.

3. Eating glutinous rice balls

Eating glutinous rice balls is a traditional custom during the Winter Solstice, especially popular in Jiangnan. "Tangyuan" is an essential food during the Winter Solstice. "Yuan" means "reunion" and "completeness". Eating glutinous rice balls during the Winter Solstice is also called "Winter Solstice Yuan". There is a folk saying that "eating glutinous rice balls makes you one year older".

4. Eat roasted pork and ginger rice

In some places in the south, roasted pork is eaten on the winter solstice. On this day, the dried roasted pork becomes a must-have on the dining tables of Guangdong and Guangxi. An indispensable delicacy, it means adding vegetables to add years to the meal. On the winter solstice, Wuchuan people have a custom of "eating ginger rice" during the winter solstice.

5. Eating sweet potato soup

In Ningbo’s traditional customs, sweet potato soup is one of the must-eat delicacies during the winter solstice. "Fan" and "fan" have the same pronunciation. In the understanding of Ningbo people, eating sweet potatoes during the winter solstice means "turning over" all the bad luck of the past year. Tangguo is similar to gnocchi, but much smaller and has no filling inside. Tangguo is also called Yuanzi, which means "reunion" and "completeness".

There is also a saying in old Ningbo that "you will be one year older after eating Tang Guo". Ningbo people are used to adding fermented rice wine when making sweet potato soup. In Ningbo dialect, Jiu Niang is also called "pulp board", and "pulp" has the same pronunciation as "rose" in Ningbo dialect, which means "rising wealth" and "rising blessings".

6. Eating dumplings

In many areas of northern China, there is a custom of eating dumplings on the winter solstice every year. In northern China, dumplings are eaten on this day because dumplings have the meaning of "repelling cold". There is still a folk proverb "If you don't bring dumpling bowls during the winter solstice, your ears will freeze off and no one will care".