It's so cold your ears will fall off!

Spring Festival begins in less than a week, but today I would like to introduce you to a lesser known Chinese festival - Dongzhi ("Dong" has a long o and "zhi" sounds like the Ger in German.)

The celebration of Dongzhi has its roots in Taoism. It coincides with the winter solstice and is a sacred turning point when the cold and dark elements of yin give way to the brightness and warmth of yang. In the north it also signals the coming of the six coldest weeks of winter.

On this day in Beijing, people get together and eat jiaozi - Chinese dumplings. In the south, where its warmer, people snack on tang yuan... sticky rice balls often filled with sweet black sesame paste. It's a really yummy treat!

Curiosity #6:
I've always been told, "If you don't eat jiaozi on Dongzhi, your ears will fall off." What's up with that? Well, jiaozi look like ears and it really does get cold enough in Beijing to make you think your ears will fall off! The story goes: A physician during the Han Dynasty noticed that some poor people were suffering from frostbite on their ears. He made a special soup of hot dumplings and gave it to the poor to help them warm their bodies. I guess it was some really good soup! Now, nearly 2,000 years later, we still eat dumplings on this day.

Jiaozi are tastier than ear muffs, I'll bite!