December 22 is a day to which I always look forward. It's winter solstice and a day for dumplings.
I often think about my adventure in a local restaurant last year that day. All day my Chinese friend at work talked about" dumplings", so I thought to myself,"Mmm… I'll go to my local dumpling restaurant for dinner. " It was usually not very busy, and it had about 30 types of dumplings on its menu.
But when I arrived at the restaurant later that evening, I was shocked. The whole neighborhood seemed to be inside, all shouting at once. The waiter pushed a menu into my hand. It had just six types of dumplings on it; he had crossed out four. The busy man gasped (喘息) to me," We're sold out!"
In the UK, we have turkey at Christmas, but in the weeks after, every sandwich is turkey and every soup is turkey, because it takes that long to eat up the leftovers. You never have to fight for Christmas food—it's everywhere, for days on end.
But on the Chinese winter solstice, everyone has dumplings on that one day alone. The waiter pushed me into a seat at the only free table, which was covered with broken chopsticks, chicken bones and oil." I don't mind what kind!" I said, desperate for dumplings.
An hour and a half later, 15 dumplings arrived—cold, almost empty shells, containing a little uncooked meat. Meanwhile, dumplings had been dropped on the floor and vinegar had been splashed (溅洒) everywhere. I ate, and then got out of there as fast as I could.