Today is the eighth day of the 12th lunar month on the traditional Chinese calendar. It's also the Laba Festival, which marks the official start of the Spring Festival. "La" in Chinese means the 12th lunar month and "ba" means eight. 

This morning, many residents got up early to line up at Beijing's most famous roast duck restaurant Quanjude in the central city, waiting for a free bowl of steaming porridge as a part of their Laba festival celebration.

Beijing Resident, said, "Eating the steaming Laba porridge really warms my heart and I can feel a great festive atmosphere here."

"The porridge tastes great rich with flavors and is quite nutritious ingredients. I'm happy to be here celebrating with so many people."

"I live in the east Beijing and came here early on the bus. I've made the Laba porridge myself at home for my family, but it isn't as sweet-smelling as the restaurant's. Today, my purpose is to sample the porridge and learn how to make mine more delicious."
Glutinous rice, beans, nuts and sugar are just some of the 8 ingredients mainly used to make the porridge tasty. As people's quality of life is improving more expensive and nutritious ingredients can be added to the porridge. The chef says, the cooking process is not complicated, but patience and slow cooking is very important.

Liu Lianzhang, Chief, said, "We carefully selected 18 ingredients and began to make the porridge at 4 a.m. this morning, that's 6 hours till now. Controlling the heat and cooking time is of great importance in making Laba porridge."

Eating porridge during the Laba Festival is a very old tradition in China. "Laba porridge" became known as "Buddha porridge," in commemoration of the date of Buddha's enlightenment. In old days, porridge was given to poor people for free by large Buddhist temples on Laba festival. But nowadays, since everyone can afford it, the event has become more like a traditional gesture than an act of charity.

Some old Beijing residents say that the tradition of eating porridge is good in itself.

Beijing Resident, said, "Laba porridge could warm up our stomach and make us healthier. It is a nutritious winter food because it contains a lot of good things, such as peanuts, dates, and other dried fruits."

The Laba Festival marks the start of the Chinese new year celebrations. It's believed that eating Laba porridge could bring people good fortune and fruitful harvest in the coming year. And it must be really great to have something sweet and warm to eat on such a freezing day. I cannot wait to have a try, and what about you?
 

小Car笔记：

lunar：月亮的, 阴历的, 银的
the Laba Festival： 腊八节
steaming porridge： 蒸粥。那馒头呢？对，就是传说中的steam bread。
ingredient： 成分; 因素
glutinous rice： 粘米
commemoration： 纪念, 庆典, 纪念节
Buddha's enlightenment ： 佛陀的启示

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