Glutinous rice cake [Photo/IC]

Dagao - Glutinous Rice Cake

Glutinous rice cakes are eaten by the Korean ethnic group, who live in Yanbian prefecture in Northeast China's Jilin province. Served with honey or sugar, it tastes delicious and chewy.

Eel

The custom of eating eel on Dragon Boat Festival day prevails in central China's Wuhan region. Eels are probably eaten simply because they are in season during the festival, fatty and tender, and rich in nutrition.

Jiandui - Fried Cake

Jiandui is a kind of fried round cake made of wheat and rice flour and something to sweeten them. In East China's Fujian province, every family eats jiandui on Dragon Boat Festival.

A legend explains this custom. It is said that the area enters its rainy season during Dragon Boat Festival. People believed there were holes in the sky which, if not filled, would allow the rain to continue indefinitely. Eating jiandui is said to help mend the sky and fill the holes.

Pancake

In East China's Wenzhou area, every family eats a kind of thin pancake at Dragon Boat Festival.

The pancake is made of refined white wheat flour fried in a flat frying pan. When the cake becomes very thin and translucent, as thin as a piece of silk as the locals describe it, it is done. Green bean sprouts, leek, shredded meat, and mushrooms are then placed on the pancake, which is then rolled up and eaten as a wrap.

Salted Duck Eggs

The salted duck eggs have a soft briny smell, a very liquid egg white and a firm-textured, orange-red round yolk that looks like the crab cream. Tradition has it that it is good to eat salted duck eggs during the Dragon Boat Festival as the burning summer is coming. The salted duck eggs are nutrient-rich and have some effect on the treatment of heat stroke.

Mianshanzi

Mianshanzi is a kind of wheat flour food made in a fan shape. The custom of eating mianshanzi on the Dragon Boat Festival mainly prevails in Minqin county in Northwest China's Gansu province.

This fan-shaped food is made up of five multi-colored layers, with each layer covered with fried sprinkles of pepper powder. The layers are pinched into a variety of patterns to make it appealing to eyes. This dietary custom is said to be trace back to the tradition of making and selling fans during Duanwu Festival in ancient times.