A round white porcelain plate has three zongzi: two in olive-green bamboo leaves with pale ties, one open on a leaf with amber sticky rice, red-brown pork and gold yolk, with wood chopsticks angled on the front-right rim.
Zongzi is glutinous rice, with a sweet or savory filling, wrapped in bamboo, reed or other leaves, tied, and boiled or steamed; it is the food of the Dragon Boat Festival on the 5th day of the 5th lunar month. In the north reed leaves and sweet fillings are more common, in the south bamboo leaves and savory fillings, with their own styles in Jiaxing, Guangdong, Chaozhou and Fuzhou. A Western Jin text mentions the early name jiaoshu, and Wu Jun's Southern Liang Xu Qixie Ji tells the legend of Qu Yuan and the offering of rice; none of these records has an exact year, and the Western Jin text is cited indirectly, with the original unchecked. Wufangzhai's zongzi craft in Jiaxing was placed on the national intangible cultural heritage list in 2011.
What
Zongzi is glutinous rice, with a sweet or savory filling, shaped in bamboo, reed or other leaves, tied, and then boiled or steamed. It is the food of the Dragon Boat Festival.1,2
When
A Western Jin book already mentions this dumpling as jiaoshu (known here through an indirect citation; the original was not checked). Wu Jun's Southern Liang Xu Qixie Ji tells how, after Qu Yuan drowned himself, people threw rice-filled bamboo tubes into the river for him, and describes wrapping zongzi in chinaberry leaves and tying them with colored silk as remnants of that custom. The connection between zongzi and Qu Yuan appears in writing late and is regarded as folklore.1,2,3
Where
It is eaten all over China, with a split between north and south: reed leaves and sweet fillings are more common in the north, bamboo leaves and savory fillings in the south, with styles of their own in Jiaxing, Guangdong, Chaozhou, Fuzhou, Hainan and Taiwan. Relatives of zongzi are made in Japan, Southeast Asia and elsewhere. The Dragon Boat Festival is observed especially along the middle and lower Yangtze.1,2,4
How
The rice and leaves are soaked beforehand, the filling goes into a leaf rolled into a cone, which is folded and tied, and the zongzi are simmered for hours. 2 Cantonese-style home recipes simmer them for 7 to 8 hours and for 3 hours. Wufangzhai's national heritage zongzi craft in Jiaxing has 36 steps, from choosing ingredients, soaking rice and boiling leaves to making the filling, wrapping, tying and cooking.5,7,8
Why
The Dragon Boat Festival falls on the 5th day of the 5th lunar month, and eating zongzi is tied to the memory of Qu Yuan; mugwort, calamus and silk in 5 colors belong to the festival too. Festival feasts include rice dumplings, eggs and wine. The person honored differs by place: Qu Yuan in Hubei and Hunan, and Wu Zixu in parts of Jiangsu.1,2,4
Impact and influence
Wufangzhai's zongzi craft in Jiaxing was placed on the national intangible cultural heritage list in 2011. With mass production, few young people can wrap by hand. In June 2026, Wufangzhai sponsored Dragon Boat events in Jiaxing and held a wrapping contest and a heritage experience hall at its flagship store; information about these activities comes from a report tied to the brand.5,6
Legend has it that Qu Yuan threw himself into the Miluo River on the fifth day of the fifth month, and the people put rice into bamboo tubes and threw it into the river as an offering to him. The Xu Qixie Ji adds that a man later called himself the Sanlü official and told a man of Changsha to seal the offered rice with chinaberry leaves and bind it with colored silk so that dragons would not steal it; zongzi wrapped in leaves and tied with colored thread are said to come from this.
Told in: A folk legend told in many places at the Dragon Boat Festival. The story is in Wu Jun's Southern Liang Xu Qixie Ji, and UNESCO's account says Qu Yuan is the person honored in Hubei and Hunan. English Wikipedia notes that the story appears in writing late and is regarded as folklore.
This is a simplified home version, not the traditional restaurant method.
This is a Cantonese-style savory zongzi, the simpler way I make it at home: just pork belly, salted egg yolk and shiitake, with no peanuts or mung beans. It is not the Jiaxing style and not the sweet northern kind. The rice and the count follow the second recipe, the other amounts and timings are my own choices at home, and the pork must be cooked through.
Ingredients
Glutinous rice 600 g, rinsed and soaked overnight
Dried bamboo leaves about 30, plus a few spares for tears
Pork belly 300 g, cut into 12 pieces
Salted duck egg yolks 6, each cut in half
Dried shiitake mushrooms 12, soaked and stemmed
Light soy sauce 3 tablespoons (1 for the pork, 2 for the rice)
Dark soy sauce 1 tablespoon
Oyster sauce 2 tablespoons (1 for the pork, 1 for the rice)
Shaoxing wine 1 tablespoon
Salt 1 teaspoon
Cooking oil 2 tablespoons
Cotton string 12 lengths, each about 50 cm
Steps
Rinse the rice and soak it overnight. Soak the leaves overnight too, scrub them clean, trim off the hard stems and soften them in boiling water.
Mix the pork belly with 1 tablespoon of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce and the wine, and marinate for at least 2 hours.
Drain the rice and mix in 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, the dark soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce, the salt and the oil.
Overlap two leaves and roll them into a funnel. Put in a spoonful of rice, then one piece of pork, half an egg yolk and one mushroom, cover with more rice and press down with the back of the spoon without overfilling.
Fold the leaf over to cover the rice, pinch it into a pyramid and wind the string around it tightly. Wrap all 12 the same way.
Put the zongzi in a large pot, add water to cover and set a plate on top so they stay under water. Bring to a boil, turn the heat low, cover and simmer for about 3 hours, topping up with boiling water as it drops.
Lift out one and cut it open while hot: the rice should be soft and sticky and the pork cooked through with no raw color. Drain the rest, and untie and unwrap them once they have cooled a little.
Tips
I press the rice down firmly but do not overfill, wrap the leaves snugly and tie the string tight, and my zongzi hold together in the pot.
While they simmer I keep the water above the zongzi and top it up with boiling water, never cold.
