Happy Dragon Boat Festival

2017-05-30
chinadaily.com.cn

Tasty rice dumplings with local variations in fillings have been a tradition of China's Dragon Boat Festival for centuries.The Duanwu Festival, otherwise known as the Dragon Boat Festival, was established in remembrance of Qu Yuan, a ministerial scholar and patriotic poet of the state of Chu during the Warring States period (475-221 BC).[Photo/VCG]

You don't have to live in China long to know that the country's most popular foods usually have a good story behind them. That's particularly true of festival foods such as zongzi, the pyramid-shaped steamed glutinous rice packages in bamboo or reed leaves that have been associated with the Dragon Boat Festival for more than a millennium. [Photo/VCG]

Zongzi, rice dumplings wrapped in leaves, remain with us today as the traditional way to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival. They've been called everything from "Chinese tamales" to "tenderly wrapped packages of pure love". [Photo/VCG]

In general, northern Chinese prefer sweet versions of these steamed treats, while southerners like 'em savory. [Photo/VCG]