Duanwu Festival, or the Dragon Boat Festival, is celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth month on the traditional Chinese calendar, which falls on June 22 this year.
As a Chinese traditional festival, Duanwu is celebrated in different ways, including eating zongzi (sticky rice dumplings), hanging Chinese mugwort and dragon boat racing. Zongzi is one of the main food items eaten during the Dragon Boat Festival. It is a rice dumpling made out of glutinous rice and wrapped in specific plant leaves.
Zongzi is a rice dumpling made out of glutinous rice and wrapped in specific plant leaves. /VCG
The leaves of traditional zongzi include bamboo leaves, the leaves of lotus, reed, maize and banana. Each kind of leaf could add unique aroma and flavor to the rice and make the zongzi more tasty. In ancient China, the leaves could help extend the shelf life of zongzi due to the natural antibacterial ingredients. Therefore the ancient Chinese developed the approach of making zongzi wrapped in these leaves and sinking them in water during the hot summers.
The geographical difference also leads to different choice on zongzi leaves. /VCG
The geographical difference also leads to different choices in zongzi leaves. In southern parts of China, bamboo and banana tree leaves have good flexibility and special aroma that is beloved by locals. As for the northern parts of China, reeds can be easily found in marshes and wetlands, therefore their leaves are used to wrap zongzi. Reed leaves are narrow, so northern Chinese usually stack two or three leaves together in order to create enough space for the fillings.
For more:
The nature hidden in Dragon Boat Festival' traditions
Indispensable leaves to make zongzi during Dragon Boat Festival