Dong Zhi is a Chinese festival (or Dongzhi Festival) which celebrates family unity and harmony like the Chinese Lunar New Year. OMG! New Year is coming; how time flies!
Dongzhi Festival 2009 is on December 22, 2009.
“Dong Zhi” indicates the “arrival of winter”. Coinciding with the winter solstice, it is an occasion for the family to get together to celebrate the good year that they have had. And what is Dong Zhi without the sweet soup of glutinous rice flour balls- Tang Yuan. Eating Tang Yuan is symbolic of family unity and prosperity. For good luck, families prefer to mix some pink Tang Yuan with the white ones.
Tangyuan are made of glutinuous rice flour and sometimes brightly coloured. Each family member receives at least one large Tang Yuan in addition to several small ones. The flour balls may be plain or stuffed. They are cooked in a sweet soup or savoury broth with both the ball and the soup/broth served in one bowl. It is also often served with a mildly alcoholic unfiltered rice wine containing whole grains of glutinous rice (and often also Sweet Osmanthus flowers), called jiuniang.
The origins of Dongzhi Festival can be traced back to the Yin and Yang philosophy of balance and harmony in the cosmos. After this celebration, there will be days with longer daylight hours and therefore an increase in positive energy flowing in.
![Worldwide Festival Singapore 2009: 7-10 May [visual art & eclectic music]](http://img.sgcgo.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/worldwide-festival.jpg)
Sally
Just mentioned your piece in Chinese Winter Solstice, Dongzhi, And Food to Go with It, December 22, January 5 on ‘Serge the Concierge’
Serge
‘The French Guy from New Jersey’
Twitter: @theconcierge