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Thali

Next: 22 Dec 2026

Dongzhi Festival

At the winter solstice the north of China eats dumplings and the south eats sweet rice balls.

One vs 1000+.
Photo: N509FZ, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

What is eaten for Dongzhi Festival

Dongzhi is the winter solstice, the longest night, after which the light returns. Families gather for a meal that is second only to New Year. In north China it must be dumplings, and a saying warns that your ears will freeze off if you skip them. In the south it is tangyuan, round sticky rice balls in sweet soup, a sign of reunion. Koreans eat patjuk, a red bean porridge whose colour keeps bad spirits away. In Japan people eat kabocha squash and bathe with yuzu.

The dishes

JiaoziDumplings, the solstice dish of north China.TangyuanSticky rice balls in sweet soup, eaten in the south.KabochaSquash eaten at the solstice in Japan.

Also part of it, and being written: Patjuk (Korean red bean porridge for the longest night.).

About this page

Written by the Thali desk with AI assistance. Background: "Dongzhi" on Wikipedia. Customs differ from family to family and place to place. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

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