The winter solstice is the longest night in a year, and many people use it to make a "winter solstice circle" with glutinous rice flour. In order to distinguish it from the "resignation" on the eve of the Spring Festival, the day before the Winter Festival is called "adding the year" or "sub-year", which means that the "year" is not over yet, but everyone has grown by one year.
Eating dumplings is also a traditional custom of the winter solstice, especially in Jiangnan. "Tangyuan" is an essential food on the winter solstice and a round dessert made of glutinous rice flour. "Round" means "reunion" and "perfection". Eating dumplings on the winter solstice is also called the "winter solstice group", and there is a folk saying that "eating dumplings is one year older". The winter solstice group can be used to worship ancestors or to give gifts to relatives and friends. In the old days, Shanghainese paid the most attention to eating dumplings. The ancients said: "Every family makes dumplings with rice, knowing that it is the winter solstice of the Ming Dynasty."
Customs of the northern winter solstice:
Personally, I think it is more ceremonial to celebrate the winter solstice in the north. After the arrival of the winter solstice, most families in the north will choose to eat jiaozi, whether they are poor or rich. Everyone has heard the story of Zhang Zhongjing, a doctor who made the soup for dispelling cold and charming ears. In fact, it really happened. Later people would eat a bowl of jiaozi on the winter solstice to express their gratitude to Zhang Zhongjing, the medical saint, to commemorate the day of Zhang Zhongjing's death and to keep out the cold.
In addition, a few families in the north will choose to eat wonton, which means regulating yin and yang. Actually, it is said that the Huns in the north were divided into two tribes in the Han Dynasty, one called Hun and the other called Tun. These two tribes brought great troubles to the people's lives, so the people hated it, so they named it Wonton and ate it.