A main tradition of the Chinese Dong Zhi festival is the making and eating of Tong Yuen. Tong Yuen are balls made of glutinous rice flour, sometimes brightly coloured, sometimes stuffed, which symbolize reunion. Each family member receives at least one large Tong Yuen and several small ones usually cooked in a sweet syrup or in red bean paste.

A really lousy photo!
p.s. if you’d like to be precise; the 2005 solstice will be December 21, 2005 at 1:35 P.M. EST (18:35 UT). December 22, 6:35am… so yes, at the posting of this entry, it’s officially Winter in the Northern hemisphere!