Yesterday was the Chinese Winter Solstice Festival or Dong Zhi. It is one of the traditional Chinese festivals, which usually falls on, or around the 22nd of December (The only Chinese festival celebrated based on Western calendar, and not following its own lunar calendar). The ancient people think that winter solstice welcomes the return of longer days, the Yin will disappear gradually while the Yang or positive things will become stronger and stronger, so it is regarded as an auspicious day to celebrate. Occurring only five/six weeks before the Chinese New Year, the festival has its own significance for many people. As the old saying goes, "Winter Solstice is bigger than Chinese New Year". Many Chinese around the world, especially the elderly, insist that one is 'a year older' right after the Dong Zhi celebration instead of waiting for the lunar new year. 

Traditionally, the Dong Zhi Festival is a time for the family to get together. Old traditions require people with the same surname or from the same clan to gather at their ancestral temples to worship on this day. Today, though it isn't an official holiday, it still remains an occasion for families to get together to celebrate the year that has passed and welcome better things in the coming year. One activity that occurs during these get-togethers is the making and eating of tangyuan or glutinous rice balls, which symbolize reunion. The rice balls may be plain or stuffed, plain or brightly colored, and cooked in sweet or savory soup. 

However, this festival is celebrated on a low scale these days. Many people are breaking away from the tradition/don't really celebrate some of these traditional festivals anymore. In addition to that, there are dessert shops that sell these glutinous rice balls all year round, so people can eat them anytime they want, not just on this very special day. Though we don't really like eating tangyuan, I still try to stick to the tradition by having them every year at home, to symbolize this festival. I usually buy the frozen ones (10 balls in a pack) from the supermarket and cook them in sweet soup (water + ginger + rock sugar + pandan leaves). The reason why I chose to buy is because we don't eat much of it, I don't wanna buy the whole pack of glutinous rice flour + fillings, make a few and waste the rest of the ingredients >.< 

Our tangyuan last night. This time it's with black sesame filling. You can also get peanut and red bean ones.

Had them as dessert after dinner last night :D And our dinner:

Sweet & sour prawns.

Stir-fry mixed veggies.

Old cucumber soup.

Unfortunately, my LO hated the tangyuan. I let her try a bit... She cried and vomited it out -_- Guess she didn't like the texture... Maybe her taste will change when she grows older... Maybe it won't... But what I really wanted was to introduce this tradition to her and hopefully she will stick to it too in the future. We are Chinese, after all :D Family reunions are typical, as with all other Chinese festivals. 

Lastly, would like to share this video since Chinese New Year is only about a month away after Dong Zhi. What's important for your family? Worth watching... Enjoy!