People wait in line for free laba porridge on Monday at Wenshu Monastery in Chengdu, Sichuan province, to celebrate the Laba Festival. [Photo by Wu Sunjie/For chinadaily.com.cn]
Thousands of residents and tourists gathered at the historic Wenshu Monastery in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province, on Monday, lining up for a cup of freshly cooked laba porridge to celebrate the Laba Festival.
"Laba" literally means the eighth day of the 12th month of the Chinese calendar. Laba Festival, considered a prelude to Spring Festival, or Chinese New Year, fell on Jan 26 this year.
It is a long-standing custom for Chengdu people to eat porridge on laba, and Wenshu Monastery has upheld the tradition of serving free porridge on this day for over 300 years.
People wait in line for free laba porridge on Sunday at Wenshu Monastery in Chengdu, Sichuan province, to celebrate the Laba Festival. [Photo by Feng Jie/For chinadaily.com.cn]
The monastery said it prepared 40,000 cups of freshly cooked laba porridge on Monday, hoping to share warmth and a tasty treat with people on the traditional festival. To ensure everyone enjoyed steaming hot laba porridge, chefs began soaking ingredients the night before and cooked in shifts since the early morning.
The monastery's laba porridge is made from over a dozen ingredients, including glutinous rice, black rice, red beans, red dates, and goji berries. This year's recipe was enriched with chestnuts and raisins for a more flavorful taste, it said.
From Saturday to Monday, the monastery gave out a total of 100,000 cups of freshly cooked laba porridge to visitors. Meanwhile, it set up 482 porridge serving spots across the city, distributing 280,000 cups of pre-cooked laba porridge.
A week ahead of the festival, the monastery also mailed 120,000 packages of laba porridge ingredients free of charge to people across the country, allowing them to make and enjoy the symbolic dish at home.
People wait in line for free laba porridge on Sunday at Wenshu Monastery in Chengdu, Sichuan province, to celebrate the Laba Festival. [Photo by Feng Jie/For chinadaily.com.cn]
People wait in line for free laba porridge on Monday at Wenshu Monastery in Chengdu, Sichuan province, to celebrate the Laba Festival. [Photo by Wu Sunjie/For chinadaily.com.cn]
