Winter solstice, the last of three important family festivals

Editor's note: To understand China, sit down to eat. Food is the indestructible bond that holds the whole social fabric together and it is also one of the last strong visages of community and culture.

The Winter Solstice will soon be upon us on Dec 21 and, to the Chinese, this is both an important solar term as well as a major traditional festival. The longest night in the year also signals that, from there on, the daylight hours will only get lengthier.

It signifies an awakening of the earth and the start of the annual rejuvenation, culminating in Spring Festival, about a month away.

As far back as 2,500 years ago, during the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC), Chinese astronomers calculated the exact dates of the winter solstices, the first of the solar terms to be so precisely set.

To the Chinese, it is yet another sign from heaven to gather together and bond as a family, an occasion that takes more and more effort these days as the urban diaspora spreads.

In the lunar-solar calendar, this is the last of three important family festivals, after Spring Festival and Mid-Autumn festival.

As in every major celebration, food is central.

The southern provinces, less influenced by the conquering Mongolian-Manchurian influences up north, still commemorate the winter solstice in the old ways.

Here, the belief is that this winter festival is almost as important as the lunar new year.

The essential banquet must be prepared, with dishes of chicken, pork, fish and vegetables. Little glutinous rice balls are always eaten, their name wanzi or tangyuan being homophonic with "reunion".

There are always regional specialties in a festival where ancestor worship is included in the rituals. Whether it be a private celebration at home or a more elaborate gathering at the village clan hall, food offerings reflect the terroir and culinary culture.

In the Chaoshan region of Guangdong province, sugar cane plantations dot the countryside and sugar is an important product.

Raw cane sugar is cooked into a thick syrup, which is then spun and pulled into a taffy. The hardening sugar strand is repeatedly worked until it solidifies into slender snowy white tubes that are as light as air.

These tangcong, or "sugar scallions", are eaten wrapped in a flour crepe and garnished with crushed toasted peanuts. It is a labor-intensive candy that must be offered to the ancestors as a sweet reminder that they are not forgotten.

In ancient communities in Fujian and Ningbo, little glutinous rice balls are offered to the gods.

Fujian uses sweet potatoes in both the dough and the filling, while the Ningbo version keeps the rice balls plain, but served in a soup flavored by sweet wine lees. Ningbo is famous for its yellow rice wines.

Cantonese tangyuan combines the best of both worlds. There are different fillings for the rice balls, including red bean paste, sweetened sesame paste, lotus seed paste and peanut paste.

Sometimes, the rice balls are made plain but are colored brightly for an auspicious end to the meal.

Also, they are always served in a sweet syrup flavored by ginger to chase away the chills and aid digestion.

While winters are less harsh in southern China, the bone-chilling winds of the north demand heartier fare.

So in Tengzhou, Shandong province, they celebrate with a steaming pot of mutton soup, a tradition that has prevailed since the Han Dynasty (202 BC-220 AD). According to legend, it was the father of traditional Chinese medicine Zhang Zhongjing who got the people eating mutton.

He believed it was just what they needed to warm up the blood after a cold winter, and to this day gifts of mutton are brought to the elders in the family during the winter solstice.

In the northern provinces, such as Hebei, Liaoning and even in Beijing, dumplings are eaten, as for almost every other major occasion.

Homemade dough is rolled into very thin wrappers for fillings of minced meat and vegetables. Because it is the winter solstice, more meat will be used and the fillings are sometimes speckled with finely diced dried mushrooms or dried baby shrimps.

These hearty dumplings are normally just boiled in water, but during the winter solstice, they are served with soup. The soups will be flavored with shredded dried laver sheets and more of the dried baby shrimp or krill, topped by fresh coriander.

Whatever food appears on the table, the Winter Solstice is the first sign of cheer after a long gloomy season, and there is a lilt of anticipation in the air, as well as the fragrance of festive dishes.

chinadaily.com.cn