IT IS the time of the year!  It‘s Dragon Boat Festival 端午节!

Celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese lunar calendar, is one of the oldest and most popular traditional Chinese festivals. This year, it falls on May 30th.

Sticky rice dumpling, better known as ZongZi 粽子 is a traditional Chinese food eaten to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival.  It is a bamboo leaf wrapped dumpling filled with sticky rice and other ingredients.  There are generally two types of ZongZi, namely the sweet and savoury ones.  The sweet dumplings are normally filled with red bean paste and the savoury ones are filled with pork, salted eggs mushrooms, dried shrimps or chestnuts.

The Festival – the Origin
The story goes back to 278 BC, where a patriotic Chinese politician, Qu Yuan屈原, was exiled after being slandered and defamed by his fellow ministers in the state of Chu楚国.

While in exile, the state of Qin conquered the state of Chu.  Saddened by the demise of his beloved country, he took his own life after writing his last poem,“Huái Shā” (懷沙).

After news of Qu Yuan’s death spread, the local people of Chu, who admired Qu Yuan greatly, paddled their boats out and raced to save his body.  They raced from Miluo River汨羅江 all the way to Dongting Lake洞庭湖.  These people wanted to stop the fish from eating Qu Yuan’s body by disturbing the waters with their passage.  In addition, the people of Chu started throwing ZongZi into the water to attract the fishes so that they would not eat the poet’s body.

As time passes, the tradition of making ZongZi has developed into many varieties.  One of the most popular would be the Teochew Bak Chang 肉粽.

To commemorate this special occasion, you get to taste the best of the best homemade Bak Chang by authentic descendants of JieYang ChaoZhou.  So order yours today via this link: AUTHENTIC Teochew Meat Dumpling