Today, December 22, is the Winter Solstice or Dongzhi Festival (literally the arrival of winter), when the night is longest and the day is shortest in the northern hemisphere. It is one of the most important festivals celebrated in China. In ancient China, there is even a saying that Dongzhi is as important as the Spring Festival. At this solar term, traditionally Chinese families will gather together to have a special meal or visit ancestral tombs to worship their ancestors. Of course, there are different customs and traditions celebrated in southern and northern China.

Northern China Customs

In northern China, where the weather is bitterly cold, people will gather to have some hot dumplings and hot drinks to stay warm, besides visiting their ancestor's tombs. The tradition of eating dumplings at the winter solstice goes back to the remedy of Zhang Zhongjing, a Chinese physician, writer and inventor of the Eastern Han dynasty. He saw many poor people suffering from starvation and frostbite in his hometown after retirement from the government. Then he set up a cauldron and began to hand out remedies to the poor people at the winter solstice. The remedy is called “cold-dispelling dumpling soup”. The recipe involves lamb, pepper and some cold-dispelling herbs together. The cooked stew was then cut and wrapped in pastry and folded into the shape of an ear, or what is known as Jiaozi today. After eating the dumpling and drinking the soup, the patients'festered ears were healed.

Southern China Customs

People in southern China,including Shanghai, prefer to eat tangyuan as tangyuan symbolizes family unity and prosperity.

Tangyuan are cooked balls of rice with a filling of bean paste or meat. Tangyuan cooked at the winter solstice are usually pink or white colored. Tangyuan is often served in a bowl with a sweet soup.

It is also a tradition to visit ancestral tombs in Southern China during the Dongzhi festival. This morning, more than 560 thousand citizens in Shanghai were heading for different cemeteries distributed across the city in light rain.

Taiwanese Customs

Aside from visiting ancestral tombs and have meals of tangyuan,  Taiwanese have their own unique custom of offering nine-layer cakes as a ceremonial sacrifice to worship their ancestors. The cakes are made of rice flour and sometimes are shaped like animals such as chickens, ducks, tortoises, pigs, cows, and sheep.

History of the Dongzhi Festival

The Winter Solstice Festival was held as early as the Spring and Autumn Period. During the reign of the Han Dynasty (206 BC–220 AD), the holiday grew in importance. It was important during the Tang Dynasty and Song Dynasty when the emperors officially proscribed it as a day to worship and sacrifice to their god and to the ancestors.