Yichang enveloped in zongzi fervor before Dragon Boat Festival
2024-06-06 19:06:47
By Ma Yuhan, Yichang International Communication Studio
With just a few days left before the Dragon Boat Festival, the people of Yichang have developed a huge appetite for zongzi.
Zongzi is a pyramid-shaped dumpling made of stuffed glutinous rice, which is then steamed in bamboo or reed leaves. It is a tradition to eat zongzi during the Dragon Boat Festival. According to legend, the great ancient Chinese poet and politician Qu Yuan (c. 340 BC – 278 BC) drowned himself in the river to protest the fall of his homeland. To find his body, local people rowed dragon boats and threw zongzi into the water to prevent fish from devouring his remains. Qu was born in Zigui County, which is now part of Yichang.
This year's Dragon Boat Festival will take place on June 10. Zongzi processing factories in Zigui are currently working overtime to meet the high demand for zongzi during the festival.
With just a few days left before the Dragon Boat Festival, the people of Yichang have developed a huge appetite for zongzi.
Zongzi is a pyramid-shaped dumpling made of stuffed glutinous rice, which is then steamed in bamboo or reed leaves. It is a tradition to eat zongzi during the Dragon Boat Festival. According to legend, the great ancient Chinese poet and politician Qu Yuan (c. 340 BC – 278 BC) drowned himself in the river to protest the fall of his homeland. To find his body, local people rowed dragon boats and threw zongzi into the water to prevent fish from devouring his remains. Qu was born in Zigui County, which is now part of Yichang.
This year's Dragon Boat Festival will take place on June 10. Zongzi processing factories in Zigui are currently working overtime to meet the high demand for zongzi during the festival.
Workers make navel orange zongzi at a Qugu factory in Zigui County.In Zigui, at Qugu International Agriculture Group, workers wrapped oranges, yellow peaches, candied dates, and other fillings together with glutinous rice using bamboo or reed leaves. These unique Yichang-flavored zongzi have been continuously produced on the production lines, resulting in nearly 30 million zongzi since the beginning of this year.
As a leading enterprise in the Yichang zongzi industry, Qugu first introduced navel orange zongzi in 2016. They utilize local navel oranges to make fruit jam and soak glutinous rice with orange juice, imparting a delightful sweet and savory taste to the zongzi.
The Zigui navel orange zongzi has been embraced by both locals and tourists, becoming the preferred choice for many consumers during the Dragon Boat Festival.
He Jing contributed the original Chinese story for this report.
