The Winter Solstice marks the depth of winter. During this season, the main dish on the dining table varies by region—people in the north traditionally favor dumplings, considering them an essential delicacy for the holiday; while southern families tend to revolve around tangyuan, whose round shape symbolizes family reunion and harmony.
The choice between enjoying dumplings or tangyuan during the Winter Solstice largely depends on personal emotional attachments and regional cultural traditions. Northerners continue the custom of using dumplings as the festive food for the Winter Solstice; their shape resembles gold ingots, symbolizing abundant wealth, and each bite expresses hopes for family reunion and future prosperity. In contrast, in the south, tangyuan has become a sweet messenger conveying warmth and harmony, with its glutinous texture wrapped around a longing for family unity and wishes for a fulfilling life.
However, beyond the choice of food types, the core value of the Winter Solstice lies in family gatherings and sharing. Whether it’s the laughter and joy of making dumplings together or the warm serenity of savoring tangyuan, these moments fill the season with profound human warmth, deepening familial bonds and bestowing the Winter Solstice with more profound and heartwarming significance.
Therefore, whether it is the Winter Solstice or the Beginning of Winter, sitting together to share festive foods, that time spent with family is the most precious memory of this season.
