Taizhou celebrates Laba Festival with free Laba porridge

A volunteer at a temple in Taizhou distributes Laba porridge at the Laba Festival. [Photo/ourjiangsu.com]

On Jan 7, the traditional Laba Festival was celebrated in Taizhou, Jiangsu province, with major temples and some communities offering free Laba porridge.

Drinking Laba porridge at the Laba Festival is a common tradition in China. That morning, the distribution points at temples like Guangxiao, Nanshan, Jingyin, and Chenghuang became lively as citizens flocked to receive porridge.

Laba porridge is made from various ingredients such as red dates, peanuts, longan, lotus seeds, walnuts, and glutinous rice, symbolizing auspiciousness and good health.

"We purchased the ingredients two days ago, prepared several hundred kilograms of rice, soaked peanuts, lotus seeds, and other nuts a day in advance, and started cooking early this morning," said Wang Dan, a staff member at Guangxiao Temple. Seeing the popularity of Laba porridge warms their hearts as well. Meanwhile, in the kitchen of Nanshan Temple, over 20 resident monks and volunteers worked with a clear division of tasks—cooking porridge, serving porridge, and packaging... Their busy figures also became a warm scenery in the winter.

On the same day, some communities in Taizhou also organized Laba Festival activities. Wutong Community in Chengdong subdistrict, for example, introduced the origin of the Laba Festival to residents, invited them to taste Laba porridge, and delivered Laba porridge and papers printed with the Chinese character "福" (good fortune) to residents to express sincere blessings and holiday greetings.