The Winter Solstice is one of the 24-marked seasons in the Chinese calendar.  In Chinese, this festival is called Dong Zhi – literary means arrival of winter.  This is the second most important festival in the Chinese calendar.

Dong Zhi normally falls between 21^st Dec to 23^rd Dec of the year.  This year, Dong Zhi is on the 22^nd Dec 2011, Singapore.

Dong Zhi has the shortest daylight of the year as the hemisphere is leaning farthest away from the sun.  For many cultures including the Chinese, this day represent treat of chilly air, long hours of darkness and seasonal affective disorder.

Base on the theory of yin and yang, the yin energy, which is at its most powerful, meets the yang energy at the Northern hemisphere and make their turning point, giving way to the light and warmth of yang.  For this reason, Dong Zhi is a time for hopefulness.

Chinese feast like a New Year on Dong Zhi as they celebrate the good year they have had.  It is also an occasion for family reunion and put on new clothing.  Some dishes are must to have on this day such as dumpling, sweat glutinous rice ball soup, red bean congee and wine.

Dumpling is belief to stimulate a person intellect and making the person more intelligent and hardworking for the year ahead.

Sweat Glutinous Rice Ball called Tang Yuan is a popular Chinese desert, which symbolize family unity and prosperity.  Many choose to eat 9 rice balls during Dong Zhi as 9 is the most Yang number and is a complete number for Chinese.

Red Bean Congee is belief to be able to ward of evil spirit, bad luck and troublemakers (xiao ren) for the coming year.

Wine is of course to keep warm and to keep the gathering into the long night.

On the day of Dong Zhi, it is important keep yourself warm as the yang energy on earth is unbalance, especially at the point of the change. This year, 2011, it will be at 13:01 Hour.  Anyone who falls ill on this day is belief to have bad fortune on the coming year.

Try some of the above dishes to keep warm and have a bountiful year ahead !