I love the new public holiday calendar started in 2008 which we have a few more 3-day long weekends. June 8 2008 is the first time we will celebrate Duanwu Festival (端午节) as public holiday (maybe since I was born) in mainland China, although it has been a public holiday in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan for some years. We will be off on June 9 Monday this year.
Duanwu (端午) as a name is less well-known than Dragon Boat Festival (龙舟节). It is also known as “五月初五” - the fifth day of May in Chinese Luna calendar. Qu Yuan (屈原) and Wu Zixu (伍子胥) are two figures that are highly related to this holiday. Qu Yuan was committed a suicide by jumping to a river called Miluo River (汨罗江) in BC 278, and Wu zixu was ordered to suicide by his respectful King in BC 478. These two great men from 2,000+ years ago died on May 5th, both for patriotic reason: They saw their own countries were in danger but the Kings wouldn’t take their proposals to protect their lands. Duanwu is the day to memorize them - Chinese have the long history to memorize patriots died for the reasons don’t really make sense today.
But the traditional celebrating activities: dragon boat racing and Zongzi eating are for Qu Yuan. Zongzi (粽子) is a kind of bamboo leaf wrapped dumpling made from sticky rice. It was said that people throw this kind of food into Miluo River (汨罗江) where Quyuan died to feed fishes thus to protect Qu Yuan’s body being eaten. They also raced dragon boat on the river to scare away the fishes. I am not a dragon boat fan, but a Zongzi lover.
I still remembered a “joke” circling on emails last year about Zongzi (粽子) :
It is said that a senior manager was relocated to China one month before Duanwu festival. And the company gave Zongzi to all employees as a way to celebrate this traditional holiday. The next day, this senior manager was asked how did he like the Zongzi. And he said:” It is very delicious, but the skin of the dumpling is a little too hard.”
I know sometime it is difficult to figure out how to eat a Chinese dish. It is always a challenge to figure out weather the skin is eatable. [for Zongzi, the answer is no.] And there are always different flavors of Zongzi in South China and North China like dumpling. I grow up in a small city in West Guangdong (广东) and we ate a kind of plate flavor Zongzi that is served with suger powder at side. But in Shanghai, the most popular Zongzi is “Meat Zong“ (肉棕) which has a piece of pork in the middle of sticky rice. A bit north in Henan (河南), people usually eat sweet flavor Zongzi stuffed with green bean or red bean.
The best Zongzi in Shanghai area is the Zongzi from Jiaxin (嘉兴), a small city between Shanghai and Hanzhou (杭州) in Zhejiang province. And the best brand is Wu Fang Zhai (五芳斋), a Zongzi maker since late 19 century. You can buy them from supermakets or visit the stores. Must try it out if you are in China. A twit has anounced that he plans to eat Zongzi for 3 days in the coming long weekend.
Address of all stores in Shanghai:
地址: 上海黄浦区四川中路136号(近广东路)
Add: 136 Sichuan Zhong Rd. (closed to Guangdong Rd.) (tel: 021-63210018)
地址: 上海黄浦区南京东路720号第一食品商店内
Add: 720 Nanjing Dong Rd, inside the First Food Department Store
地址: 上海徐汇区浦北路938号(近虹漕南路)
Add: 938 Pubei Rd (closed to Hongcao Nan Rd)
地址: 上海徐汇区天钥桥路40-90号汇联商厦1楼(近肇嘉浜路)
Add: 40-90 Tianyaoqiao Rd, in Huilian Plaza
地址: 上海静安区大沽路254号(近重庆北路)
Add: 254 Dagu Rd. (closed to Chongqing Bei Rd) (tel: 021-63753085)
