Subscribe to free Email Newsletter

 
   
 
 

Traditional ties that bind

2013-06-09 17:05:34

(China Daily) By Pauline D. Loh

 

Traditional ties that bind

The centerpiece of Duanwu Festival - zongzi or rice dumplings - is always associated with family and culture. Pauline D. Loh / China Daily

Traditional ties that bind

Savory zongzi are usually filled with salted egg yolks, pork and chestnuts. Pauline D. Loh / China Daily

Traditional ties that bind

Red bean paste zongzi are typical of sweet dumplings eaten in the north.

Traditional ties that bind

A Din Tai Fung specialty dumpling made with purple rice and purple sweet potato.

The Chinese celebrate Duanwu Festival by eating rice dumplings of all shapes and sizes. For some who live in other countries, it is a yearly tradition, just as their relatives at home guard the culinary heritage of both taste and culture. Pauline D. Loh explores the links between heart and home.

Traditions become precious when they become the only links to ancestral roots and historical heritage. This has always been the case, especially for people who wander, and no one has gone further afield than the Chinese. That is the reason why Duanwu is now a global festival, celebrated on all five continents. Studies have shown that the strongest guardians of traditional Chinese festivities are often overseas Chinese communities. In Chinatowns from the United Kingdom to the United States, lion and dragon dances are colorful components of Lunar New Year celebrations, just as the rice dumplings, or zongzi, are made and eaten at Duanwu in almost every major city in the world.

In countries nearer home where the Chinese Diaspora first landed, the humble rice dumpling has evolved and incorporated local tastes. Sometimes it is even borrowed for local festivals. In Vietnam, for example, dumplings are eaten most often for Tet, the Vietnamese New Year.

Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and the Philippines all have similar or evolved versions of the rice dumpling, while in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia, they are so popular that zongzi are sold all year round, and prepared with local ingredients such as spices and chili.

Within China itself, regional varieties reflect local tastes and traditions, with savory dumplings popular south of the Yangtze River and predominantly sweet dumplings eaten in the north.

1 2



8.03K

 
  Gallery  
     
 

Sculpture works of college graduates presented to public in Beijing

 

Kangxi ceremony performed in Chengde

 

Art exhibition opens in Guangzhou subway to support art education

 

Folk handicrafts made in SW China's Guizhou Province displayed in Beijing

 

9th China Int'l Comics Games Expo kicks off in Shanghai

 

Top 10 attractions in Tianjin, China

 
 

China's royal Gaocheng lanterns

 

Armor Dance of Yi ethnic group at 4th Int'l Festival of Intangible Cultural Heritage

 

 France folk dance at 4th Int'l Festival of Intangible Cultural Heritage

 

Visitors to Teresa Teng's exhibit in E China exceed 20,000

 

Nanxun Ancient Town in China's Zhejiang

 

Oil painting exhibition unveils 'Jiangnan style'

 
 

Beijing Opera performed in Algeria for celebration

 

Fantastic Beijing - Hutongs

 

Toling Monastery in Ngari prefecture, West Tibet

 

Scenery of mountainous areas in Beijing´s Huairou district

 

Shaolin martial arts performed in Taiyuan

 

E Herder arts exhibition opens in Beijing