popular story, such dumplings were thrown into the river as food for the fish and shrimp to keep them from eating quyuan's body. these dumplings now are boiled and eaten on the holiday. suzhou in jiangsu province and ningbo and jiaxin in zhejiang province are known for their zongzi with date and sweet bean paste, ham, or bacon filling. beijing is famous for date and preserved fruit fillings. they are made in various shape, three-or four-cornered, or in the shape of a pillow, ax, ox horn and pagoda. the largest ones may weigh half a kilogram. for more than 2,000 years, people not only in china but also in southeast asia, japan and vietnam have maintained the tradition of eating zongzi on the dragon boat festival.
coming in the lull between spring plowing and summer weeding, the festival is celebrated in a variety of ways. it has overtones of spring purification, and in the south it is the occasion for a good house cleaning to protect against various diseases that