“During the “Duanwu” Festival, most families get together and eat “zongzi” which is basically sticky rice wrapped in bamboo leaves. Sometimes it’s stuffed with meat or red bean.”

The informant was born and raised in Taipei.

After thoughts: “Zongzi” is a traditional Chinese food eaten during the Dragon Boat Festival, which falls on the fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar. A popular belief of eating “zongzi” involved Qu Yuan, a famous Chinese poet from the kingdom of Chu. He was known for his patriotism, and unsuccessfully tried to warn the king against the expansionism of the Qin. In the end, the Qin general took the king and the Chu Capital. Qu Yuan was so upset that he drowned himself in the river. According to the legend, packets of rice were thrown into the river to prevent the fish from eating the poet’s body.