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December 21 is the Winter Solstice Festival, Dong Zhi.
12月21日是冬至日。
It's one of the most important Chinese festivals. Some Chinese even think it is more important than Spring Festival.
它是中国最重要的节日之一。一些中国人甚至认为它比春节更重要。
According to the Book of Han, "dong zhi yang qi qi, jun dao chang, gu he",
据《汉书》记载，“冬至阳气起，君道长，故贺”，
it means after Dong Zhi, the days are getting longer, and that worth celebrating.
意思是冬至过后，白天变长，值得庆祝。
People from different parts of China celebrate it in different ways.
来自中国不同地区的人会以不同的方式庆祝冬至。
In southern China, people eat Rice cake, Tangyuan and Sticky rice.
在中国南方，人们会吃年糕、汤圆和糯米。
They also use these festival food as an offering dish to worship the ancestors.
他们也用这些节日的食物作为祭拜祖先的祭品。
In northern China, people typically have dumplings on Dong Zhi.
在中国北方，人们通常会在冬至日吃饺子。
It was originated from a famous pharmacologist, Zhang Zhongjing, from Han Dynasty.
这一习俗起源于汉代著名药理学家张仲景。
On one cold winter day, he saw the poor people suffering from cold.
在一个寒冷的冬天，他看到很多穷人受冻。
Feeling sympathetic, he ordered his apprentices to make dumplings with lamb and all the ingredients, and distribute them along the poor to keep them warm.
出于同情，他便要求徒弟们把所有的食材和羊肉包成饺子，分发给穷人取暖。
And he named the dish "qu han jiao er tang", "er" means ears, that's because the dumplings were shaped like ears,
他还把这道菜命名为“祛寒娇耳汤”，“耳”的意思是耳朵，这是因为饺子的形状像耳朵，
and it means the dumpling soup that expels the cold.
这道菜名字的意思就是一碗可以驱寒的饺子汤。
From that time on, it has been a tradition to eat dumplings on the day of Dong Zhi.
从那时起，冬至日吃饺子就成了一种传统。
According to the Yin and Yang philosophy, in the northern hemisphere,
根据阴阳学说，在北半球，
the Yin energy reaches its peak in the year in Dong Zhi, because of the shortest daytime and the longest night time of a year.
冬至日是一年中白天最短，夜晚最长的一天，因此阴气在一年中达到顶峰。
The Yin energy in human body reaches peak as well.
人体中的阴气也达到顶峰。
And traditional Chinese medicine believes it's time of the year for people to do moxibustion treatment,
传统中医认为，冬至日就是人们进行艾灸疗法的时候了，
which involves the burning of mugwort, a small, spongy herb, to promote healing with acupuncture.
这种疗法是指焚烧艾草（一种小而柔软的草药），以促进针灸治疗。
Personally speaking, it's a rather comfortable, relaxing process. It's warm with special smell of burning mugwort.
就我个人而言，这是一个相当舒适、放松的过程。全身非常暖和，伴随着艾草燃烧的特殊气味。
After a couple of treatments, my hands and feet are no longer ice-cold in winter, so I think it helps.
经过几次治疗，我的手和脚在冬天便不再冰冷了，所以我认为这种疗法很有作用。
