Dragon Boat Festival is here with the scent of mugwort
The Dragon Boat Festival, celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, centers on zongzi (glutinous rice dumplings) as the signature festive food in Linyi. Distinct regional customs of wrapping, filling and cooking zongzi have been preserved across river plains and mountainous areas of the city, forming a unique local food culture rooted in decades of folk life.
Two primary types of leaves are adopted for wrapping zongzi in Linyi. Plains districts along the Yi and Beng Rivers including Lanshan, Luozhuang and Tancheng use slender reed leaves to craft delicate triangular zongzi with a soft fresh fragrance. Mountainous counties such as Yishui, Pingyi and Fei County harvest large quercus dentata (bark oak) leaves from hillsides to make big square zongzi featuring rich, strong herbal aroma. Three kinds of glutinous rice are widely used: white glutinous rice with a faint green tint after boiling, black glutinous rice with unique rich scent, and golden broomcorn millet rice with chewy texture; eight-treasure mixed rice with beans and peanuts is also popular among families. Traditional fillings mainly include local red jujubes and hand-made red bean paste, while modern savory fillings like pork ribs and salted egg yolks have gained popularity in recent years.
Linyi retains time-honored natural binding materials for zongzi. Villagers in mountainous areas once used mulberry bark strips, while riverside residents preferred dried iris lactea (Chinese iris) leaves, tough and aromatic for tight binding. Large iron cauldrons are used for cooking: reed-leaf zongzi simmer for 1.5 hours plus half an hour of soaking, whereas thick quercus dentata leaf zongzi require over 2 hours of slow boiling and one hour of stewing to release full flavor. Families usually pair zongzi with boiled wormwood eggs and share bundled dumplings with relatives as gifts, symbolizing peace and sweet life.
These distinctive zongzi customs embody the simple warmth of Yimeng rural life and carry thousands of years of Chinese festival heritage. Linyi will continue to protect and promote its unique local Dragon Boat food traditions, integrate folk catering culture into cultural tourism development, and pass down precious intangible folk customs to younger generations.
Editor：韩蒙蒙