Happy Zongzi 粽子 Festival, 5th day of 5th Lunar month
The 5th day of the 5th month in the Chinese calendar has been set as Duānwǔ jié 端午節 (Dragon Boat Festival). Although there were many versions of legends and stories that indicate Duānwǔ jié has existed way before the legendary Qu Yuan's death, the tradition still carries on.
The rice dumplings (Zòngzi 粽子) are glutinous rice or sticky rice wrapped in bamboo leaves, or other large leaves like the Pandan leaves or Lotus leaves. You can find all sorts of different fillings in the rice - pork, roast pork, chestnut, egg, salted egg, mushroom, red bean, or just simply without filling. They could be just white rice dumpling (not pre-fried), or brown (pre-fried with soya sauce).
Nowadays, you can buy Zòngzi almost everyday of the year, in restaurants or hawker stores in most oriental countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, and other Asian countries (Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines, Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos) where large amount of Chinese reside.
