The Dragon Boat Festival, just like any other celebration, is a time to get together with family and friends, and eat. And the spread usually includes many traditional Chinese delicacies, namely, Zongzi, the pyramid-shaped glutinous rice dumpling wrapped in bamboo leaves. And when it comes to Chinese pastries, one of the most renowned shops is Daoxiangcun.

WANG JUNSHI, VICE PRESIDENT DAOXIANGCUN, BEIJING "This year's main theme for Zongzi is the comparisons between the northern and southern tastes. The northern style of the Zongzi is somewhat sweet, while the southern style has a more spicy, salty taste. So we came up with a new Sichuan spicy flavoured Zongzi, and it's been very well received! With these new Zongzi products we did some marketing research, had tasting sessions and created a poll where our customers were able to choose their favorite flavour."

The company produced 40 million Zongzi this year, 5 to 8 percent more than a year ago. Although they decided to make more of the traditional flavours, they have 11 different kinds of Zongzi and 3 new flavours now on their menu. Each costs around 4.50 to 8 yuan per piece.

CUSTOMER "My family is very traditional so for every festival we just buy some Zongzi from Daoxiangcun. But this year I wanted to try a spicy one. It's very new and I like it. And I also like cartoons and animation, so I bought this one of actor HuangBo. I think it will be very good."

For those of you who don't know, 'Huang Bo' is a famous Chinese actor and singer. This particular Zongzi brand collaborated with the well- known artist and created a 'HuangDouJun ice pastry,' putting him and his friends on the packaging as cartoon characters. Their promo video even went viral online, and this product has become a huge hit. A modern marketing tool used to increase their sales numbers.

JENNY CORTES YBAÑEZ BEIJING "These well- established brands not only produce the original and classic delicacies, as the older generation prefers those during the dragon boat festival. But it's also important to them that they cater to their younger and more adventurous consumers by creating and introducing new and fresh takes to their traditional food products every year to appeal to them as well. JCY, CGTN, Beijing."