Winter Day Family Meal

MaMa Chan and BaBa Chan cooked up a storm: steamed chicken, steamed fish, steamed eggs, roast pork, rice noodles, veggies stir-fry, and (not shown) watercress soup.

Winter Day Family Meal, a photo by littolillian on Flickr.

I had no idea that yesterday was one of the biggest and most important holidays for the Chinese peoples. But, it was. And, poop on me for being late to dinner because the family was waiting. D'oh.

According to Wikipedia:

The Dōngzhì Festival or Winter Solstice Festival (Chinese: 冬至; pinyin: Dōngzhì; literally "the Arrival of Winter") is one of the most important festivals celebrated by the Chinese and other East Asians during the Dongzhi solar term (winter solstice) on or around December 22 when sunshine is weakest and daylight shortest. It occurs on Friday, December 21, 2012. 

The origins of this festival can be traced back to the yin and yang philosophy of balance and harmony in the cosmos. After this celebration, there will be days with longer daylight hours and therefore an increase in positive energy flowing in. The philosophical significance of this is symbolized by the I Ching hexagram fù (復, "Returning").

According to my mom and aunt, it's a bigger deal than Lunar New Year.

Now I know.