The Dongzhi Festival, also called Winter Solstice Festival, is one of the most important traditional festivals in China. It is a solar term in Chinese lunar calendar and in the solar calendar, it always falls on December 22 or 23 each year.

As early as more than 2500 years ago, winter solstice was mensurated by Chinese via observing movements of the sun with sundials. During the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD), it became a festival of great importance for the Chinese people. On that day, all the family members would get together and have meal together. Ancient Chinese also regarded this day as a day to offer scarifies to heaven and their ancestors.

In the southern parts of China, all the family members would make and eat Tangyuan, a kind of stuffed dumpling ball which is made of glutinous rice flour, symbolizing reunion in the Chinese culture. In some parts of the northern China, people would eat dumplings, believing that doing so would keep them from frost in the upcoming winter.