汤圆甜甜的元宵佳节

No Chinese celebration is complete without a grand, gourmet feast. Though Lantern Festival is still a few days away, it seems people in Beijing are getting a head start on the indulging.

Standing in the cold wind, these people are looking to sweeten up the festival atmosphere. Bite size pearls of glutinous rice enveloping various fillings, this snack has a history of over one thousand years.

Chocolate, sesame, osmanthus, pineapple, gourmands are spoiled for choice. For time-honored brands like the Huguo Temple Snack Restaurant, sales are brimming.

Wang Wei, Manager of Huguo Temple Snack Restaurant, said, "We sell one thousand kilograms per day. And that’s expected to soar up to over ten thousand in the following days."

Making sweet dumplings is simple yet takes delicateness. The fillings are shaped into balls and rolled around in a small barrel of glutinous rice flour. The balls must be taken out and dipped into water several times, to keep the surface sticky. It’s ready for cooking once the balls are coated into a good size.

This old restaurant keeps preservatives and freezing off its recipe. All the sweet dumplings are freshly made, filled with authentic flavor. In the past, this was a precious dish eaten only at festivals.

A customer said, "Life has certainly improved. My family and I want to have a taste of these sweet dumplings before the festival to feel the atmosphere. "

The Lantern Festival falls on this Sunday.