Winter solstice is one of the most popular festivals in Guangdong and one of the 24 solar terms in the solar calendar. It is a festival after half a month of heavy snow every year. China's ancient book Hanshu said: "The sun shines on the winter solstice, so congratulations." It means that the sun will get longer after winter, so people will congratulate each other on the arrival of winter.
Every winter solstice, vagrants in Guangdong go home to reunite with their families and eat dumplings, which means a happy family. On this day, Cantonese people will slaughter chickens and ducks, cook a sumptuous and delicious meal, and then have a reunion dinner after worshipping God.
This custom has a saying in Guangdong, that is, "fat in winter and thin in years", which means eating more in winter and eating less in Spring Festival. This statement is also well founded.
Festival custom
1, South: Many places in the south of China will celebrate festivals on the winter solstice. Winter solstice is a traditional festival to worship the heavens and ancestors, and it is one of the eight major festivals in a year. On this day, people should worship their ancestors to God. There is a saying that "the winter festival is as big as a year, and it will never come back." People who go out must go home to worship their ancestors on the solstice of winter.
Due to different local customs and habits, the forms of ancestor worship are also different. After the ancestor worship ceremony, there is usually a big banquet to entertain the people who come to worship their ancestors. Everyone drinks heartily and contacts each other with long-lost feelings. Many places regard the winter solstice as a festival of reunion.
2. North China: In many places in the north of China, it is a custom to eat jiaozi every winter solstice. As the saying goes: "On October 1st, when the solstice of winter comes, every family eats jiaozi." North China will eat jiaozi on this day, because jiaozi means "dispelling cold". Up to now, there is a folk proverb that "on the solstice of winter, jiaozi bowls are improper and nobody cares about frozen ears".