More than 60 faculty of School of Foreign Languages (hereafter referred to as SFL), Shanghai Jiaotong University, gathered together to make Chinese dumplings at Yang Yongman Building on Dec 17^th to welcome the Chinese New Year.

As the saying goes, "The Winter Solstice is as significant as the Spring Festival." The Chinese dumpling, called Jiao Zi in Chinese, is a centerpiece of the Winter Solstice, which falls on December 21^st this year. Since Winter Solstice marks the arrival of the coldest season, with the shortest day and the longest night in the year, it is a custom for people to make and eat dumpling in celebration of the Winter Solstice and new year.

Five pots of fillings of pork and lotus root, pork and shepherd's purse, shrimp meat and eggs, pork and Chinese Chives, beef and carrots, respectively, were displayed on a long table, ready to be made into Jiao Zi.

Ding Jian, Secretary of CPC SFL Committee, joined in making dumpling and talked about its significance.

“This activity provided a chance for faculty and staff to get close to traditional Chinese culture and also promoted exchanges among colleagues.” said by one teacher.

With a small flat piece of dough in hand, one teacher showed another teacher how to make a dumpling step by step. After putting a spoon of filling in the center of the flat dough, the teacher pinched the dough edge together with the thumb and index fingers. Watching the demonstration closely and following his instructions, a teacher made a dumpling of her own in a minute and proudly added it to the display tray.

When the dumplings were dancing in the boiling water, people gathered before the pots and can’t wait to have a bite of the dumplings made by their own hands.

This is many years in a row for the School of Foreign Languages of Shanghai Jiaotong University to host the dumpling festival to celebrate the New Year. While the fight with Covid-19 pandemic is still going on, this year’s dumpling tastes just as great as ever!