In Chinese, they are called yuanxiao, which means "the night of the fifteenth of the first lunar month." This is also the date of the Lantern Festival, and so the festival was also known as the "Sweet Dumpling Festival." The cus-tom of eating sweet glutinous rice dumplings on this par-ticular day began in the fifth century BC. This spherical shaped food for the yearly festival is popular also be cause it symbolizes togetherness and harmony.

The filling of the glutinous-rice dumplings in Beijing is sugar and haw jelly, sugar and osmanthus jelly, or sweetened bean paste, together with plums, sesame and walnuts. In southern China, the dumplings are called tangtuan, and can have a salty or even spicy flavor.

In Beijing, they are made by cutting the mixed fillings into small cubes, which are moistened and coated with gluti-nous-rice flour. The dumplings are about the size of walnuts.

In the old days, sweet glutinous rice dumplings were boiled and served hot by vendors in the street.