Do you eat jiaozi or glutinous rice balls on the solstice of winter in Hangzhou?

Hangzhou eats glutinous rice balls on the solstice in winter.

The solstice in winter is the 22nd of the 24 solar terms, which is a traditional festival of the Chinese nation. The custom of winter solstice originated in Han Dynasty and flourished in Tang and Song Dynasties. In the south of China, there is a custom of eating glutinous rice balls on the solstice in winter, which is especially popular in the south of the Yangtze River, such as Hangzhou, Nanjing and Jiangsu. There is also a saying among people in Hangzhou that the solstice in winter is as big as a year. On this day, people wandering in other places have to rush home for the New Year. This is the so-called "going home at the end of the year", and the family revolves around the dining table.

Before the winter solstice in Hangzhou, people often make dough with glutinous rice flour, and then wrap jiaozi with stuffing such as lean meat, apples, bean paste and shredded radish. For Hangzhou people, "Tangyuan" is a necessary food from winter to Sunday. Because "round" means "reunion" and "perfection", eating glutinous rice balls in winter solstice is also called "winter solstice group", which is a blessing for family reunion in the coming year.

The custom of winter solstice in Hangzhou is 1. After the solstice of winter, people in Hangzhou mainly want to eat jiaozi, and jiaozi represents family reunion and emotional harmony. People in Hangzhou also like to eat rice cakes on this day to celebrate. Every winter solstice, they will make cakes to worship their ancestors or give them to relatives and friends, which means getting old.

During the winter solstice in Hangzhou, Hangzhou people will bake bacon and make winter pickles. There is another important thing to be busy, that is, pickling salted bacon, salted duck, sausage and other sauce products. Vegetables preserved in winter should be preserved in a big jar and dried before eating in the next spring.

There will be a winter solstice night in Hangzhou. People in Hangzhou call the night before the winter solstice "winter solstice day and night", which is the longest night in a year. The whole family get together at home and have a winter solstice dinner. The food in this meal is the same as that in the Spring Festival. If someone can't come back after going out, they should also call each other to report that they are safe.