Warmth on Winter Solstice Friendship Between Chinese and South Koreans ——Yanggu Youth and South Korean Friends Make Dumplings Together to Celebrate a Traditional Festival

The Winter Solstice is an important solar term in the Chinese lunar calendar. In northern China, there is a custom of eating dumplings, which symbolizes warmth, reunion, and good luck. On the eve of the Winter Solstice in 2025, Yang Jiaming, a student from YangguCounty, Shandong Province, currently studying in Incheon, South Korea, gathered with his Korean friends for a heartwarming and fun-filled dumpling-making experience.With food as the link,they exchanged ideas on cultural communication and conveyed the warmth and friendship of the traditional Chinese solar term.

The event was filled with the aroma of flour and constant laughter. Yang Jiaming patiently explained the cultural origins of eating dumplings during the Winter Solstice to his Korean friends and demonstrated the entire process, from kneading the dough and rolling out the wrappers to mixing the filling and shaping the dumplings.The Korean friends tried their hands with great enthusiasm; from being flustered at first to gradually becoming skilled, dumplings of various shapes gradually filled the chopping board. Everyone chatted while making dumplings, sharing winter dietary customs and cultural stories from their respective countries, and the atmosphere was harmonious and lively.

As steaming hot dumplings were served, the Chinese and Korean friends sat together around the table to savor this traditional dish made with their own hands.Shin Kyung-ho, one of the Korean participants, remarked that by making and cooking dumplings himself, he not only learned about Chinese culinary techniques but also deeply felt the familial warmth and cultural significance embodied in the tradition.

Although this event was small in scale, it facilitated a sincere cultural dialogue in a relaxed and natural way through the sharing of food. As one of the symbols of Chinese culinary culture, dumplings became an emotional carrier connecting friends from different cultural backgrounds, allowing the South Korean friends to intuitively perceive the spiritual essence of “harmony”and “reunion”in traditional Chinese culture through hands-on experience and communal dining.

As traditional Chinese festivals and cultural customs gain global recognition, such small yet beautiful and down-to-earth cultural exchanges are emerging as vibrant practices that foster mutual understanding and deepen friendships, building bridges for cross-cultural communication.