Tuesday, June 06, 2006

Zhongzi


I took these pictures of a 7-11 advertisement. Zhongzi is the traditional snack food during the time of Dragon Boat Festival here. It's glutinous rice and various fillings wrapped in bamboo leaves, cleverly folded and tied with string. I find the plainer it is (filling-wise) the more... palatable.
The story says that the Chinese poet Qu Yuan drowned himself on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, 227 BC. The townspeople were so upset that, as they tried to find the body, they kept throwing rice wrapped in leaves into the river to keep the fish from eating him. So, on Dragon Boat Festival day, it is traditional to eat Zhongzi to remember him (and his ignominious death).

Posted by Kathleen @ 3:59 PM