Today is the winter solstice and the first day of winter in the Northern Hemisphere, which also means today is the shortest day of the year too. We Chinese call it Dong Zhi 冬至.
Traditionally, Dong Zhi is also a time for a family reunion with perhaps a dinner. One most significant highlight of Dong Zhi is eating Tang Yuan 湯圓 or balls of glutinuous rice, which symbolize reunion. These balls are made of glutinuous rice flour and sometimes brightly coloured. The flour balls may be plain or stuffed with peanuts or black sesame. They are cooked in sweet ginger soup.
Tonight, timely as it was, we had our "reunion dinner" as everyone just got back from their overseas vacation. We dished out bowls of Tang Yuan for dessert. Was chatting with someone a couple of days ago. I mentioned about Dong Zhi and asked my friend if her family would be having Tang Yuan or dinner. She said they do not celebrate such occasions. I think my friend, who is from another religion, deemed this day as a Buddhist or Taoist occasion. I was like "duh...". Well, not surprisingly, I'm afraid the younger generation nowadays does not even know what is Winter Solstice or the Chinese tradition behind it.
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