Me & City (Suzhou, China)

Today is Winter Solstice Eve, also known as Midwinter Eve!  First let me tell you in short, it’s a big day for Suzhou natives!

Winter Solstice, one of the 24 solar terms in the lunar Calendar and usually falls in the fourth week(around the 22nd) of December in the Gregorian Calendar. It is the day of the year with the fewest hours of daylight.

The custom of  celebrating Winter Solstice Day by Suzhou natives dates back more than 2000 years ago，when the Kingdom of Wu adopted the Calendar of the Zhou Dynasty from which Winter Solstice is recognized as the first day of new year. So there is an old local saying in Suzhou  that “Natives celebrate Winter Solstice Day as big as New Year’s!”.

Just as in Christmas, the most important moment is the eve of the festival—Winter Solstice Eve.  A sumptuous dinner is usually well prepared to have a wonderful family reunion on the eve . Among all the elements of the fancy meal is Dong Niang Wine (冬酿酒), literally translated as Wine Brewed in Winter. It’s a rice brewed wine prepared about two months before the Midwinter Day made up with glutinous rice, sweet osmanthus and water is a must.

In Suzhou, Dong Niang Wine is a special seasonal wine, tastes  light and naturally sweet only made for the Winter Solstice. As the holiday approa ches , you can find the wine easily in many markets,  from big supermarkets to little grocery  stores. Besides, some Suzhou time-honored brand shops supply Dong Niang Wine brewed on their own every year as a tradition, such as Yuan Da Chang.  Most older natives prefer to wait in line for the wine brewed by these old shops,  maybe because the wine has accompanied them since their childhood!

Just as everybody know “When you in Rome, do as the Romans do”, I’d like to say when you in Suzhou, especially if you spend the Winter Solstice Day here, drink the Dong Niang Wine as the Suzhounese do! Cheers!

I was waken up by osmathus fragrance this morning. Was the season already over? I wandered. It’s raining outside. What a day! As I went downstairs the sweet fragrance got stronger. I knew where it came from as I approach to the kitchen.
“Morning, want some tangyuan”( very traditional suzhou food, made of sticky rice powder) my mom turned over with a warm smile on her face.
“So you used your secret weapon, is this the last year sweet osmathus sauce” I asked.
“No. I made it last month, it’s fresh new one.
“I am so gonna screw up my diet plan” I murmured. Well I have to do it next time.

You can easily find sweet osmathus sauce at traditional sweetmeat shop like the Cai Zhi Zhai and the Ye Shou He confectionery shops any season. It’s been widerly used in traditional dessert and beverage. I especially like to add into plum juice. It’s not easy to find accurate words to describe the taste, but only imaging the mouthful of flower fragrance after sipping it.

Rubra  is a kind of seasonal fruits at Suzhou local. Xi Shan, a town of Suzhou,  has the most famous rubra recognized by the Suzhou natives. In the early June every year, the fresh Xi Shan rubra become available on the market. Because the mature period of the bubra is short only lasts till the end of the June, so the locals always enjoy the delicious fruit at their best at this period of time.

Not only rubra is a very delicious fruit, it is also quite good for health. The fruit acid of rubra can help  to enhance appetite and digest in the sweltering summer days.  The elements of rubra can also inhibit  colon bacillus, dysenteriae and other bacterias.  Besides, rubra is rich in organic acid, vitamin C &B etc, which makes positive contribution to anti-cancer.

I have tried the fresh rubra, so tasty:)
Strongly recommend anyone have a try if you are so lucky visiting Suzhou in June. You can buy the rubra easily from supermarkets and farm markets or even fruit stands in the streets.