Once Upon a Time, Zongzi!

Food is priority in many cultures. When we talk about Thanksgiving, we always think of the turkey, the cranberry, and the pumpkin, and it is not exceptional in Chinese culture.

This story was to tell a story about a Chinese festival - Dragon Boat Festival. If you google this festival, you would find quite a few staples  - A poet who is a patriot committed suicide by jumping into a river, a dragon boat race to scare the fish away from eating the poet's body, and throwing Zongzi in the river to either feed fish or worship the poet.

For a story to first introduce this festival to young readers, I decided not to choose the heavy part. Hence Zongzi the food was put on table.

It is interesting as I don't find a very proper translation for this special food Zongzi. But it does look alike tameles in Mexican cuisine.

But there are more than a kind. Difference places use different kinds of leaves to wrap the rice with different flavors. Some are sweet, while some are savory. And it is funny as almost every year during the festival, the Chinese netizens always have a debate about which kind of Zongzi should be authentic. Oh well, no one ever wins, as everyone thinks the kind from their hometown should be the one .

And that is the inspiration for me to write this story.

                       Written by Emma Chow | Pictures by S.N Huang