We will soon celebrate Duanwu, or the Dragon Boat Festival, and Pauline D. Loh suggests some sweet dumplings for the occasion.

按照中國的農歷，一年之中排滿了各式各樣的節日，有的以某種傳統美食為標志，有的是為了紀念某位英雄人物。在端午節（又名龍舟節）來臨之際，筆者為大家推薦香甜的粽子。

The lunar calendar is filled with festive days marked by food and heroes. We will soon celebrate Duanwu, or the Dragon Boat Festival, and Pauline D. Loh suggests some sweet dumplings for the occasion.

記憶中掛在房椽上的一串串粽子仿佛某種來自異國的奇特水果，我們從下方經過的時候常常要小心，偶而會有水珠滑過竹葉滴落下來。

The rafters sprouted dangling bunches of dumplings like some strange exotic fruits and we would tread carefully underneath, avoiding the occasional drop of water sliding off the bamboo leaves.

那時候，祖母的廚房里總是傳來令人垂涎三尺的香氣——蒸過的竹葉散發出隱約的泥土氣息，紅燒肉咸香的味道，紅豆沙甜甜的氣味，還有蒸蓮子的醉人清香。

My grandmother's kitchen would be redolent with a bouquet of drool-inducing aroma -- the slightly earthy smell of steamed bamboo, the salty spiciness of soy-braised pork, the musky sweetness of red bean paste and heady floral scent of steamed lotus seeds.

這是以往在端午節前一周常常出現的場景。農歷五月初五為端午節，又叫龍舟節。每到這個時候，祖母就會給最小的孫輩講起屈原的故事。屈原是戰國時期（公元前475至公元前221年）的一位詩人，他熱愛自己的國家，因為對腐敗的宮廷極度失望而投河自盡。我們今天所吃的竹葉包裹的粽子就是為了紀念這位詩人。

This would be a week before Duanwu, the Dragon Boat Festival, on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. And as always, Granny would be telling the youngest grandchild all about Qu Yuan, the patriot poet of the Warring States Period (475-221 BC) who jumped into the river because he was so disappointed with the corruption in court. It is to his memory that we are eating all these bamboo-wrapped dumplings.

屈原死后，起初人們只是簡單地把大米和其他供品投入河中來祭祀他。然而有民間傳說記載，屈原曾給一名村民托夢，說他的祭品都被河中的一頭惡龍吃掉了，要求村民們用竹葉把祭品包裹起來，以防再招來惡龍。

Originally, the people simply threw rice and other offerings into the river after his death but folklore says he appeared in a dream to a villager and said a delinquent dragon in the river was eating up his offerings, so they needed to wrap it up in bamboo to deter the creature.

作為中國的傳統節日之一，端午節的慶祝方式充滿了色彩、喧囂和美食。色彩和喧鬧來自于河面上舉行的劃龍舟競賽。龍舟是一種船身狹長低矮的獨木舟，以龍頭的形象作為裝飾。人們通常歡呼擊鼓為自己喜愛的龍舟隊伍加油助威。

Like all festivals of pedigree in China, Duanwu is celebrated with a lot of color, noise and food. The color and noise comes from boat races on the river in long, low-slung canoes decorated with a dragon head. There is usually a lot of cheering and drum-beating to urge the favorite teams to the finishing line.

激情燃燒過后，人們喜歡盡情享用各種口味的粽子。根據地域的不同，粽子也有甜咸之分。

After expanding all that energy, the crowds would feast on rice dumplings, and depending on which end of the country you are in, they would be sweet or savory.

我來到北京已有七年之久。在此之前，我只吃過咸味的粽子。我們南方的粽子大多呈完美的金字塔形，形狀飽滿，里面裹著栗子、一個咸蛋黃、分量十足的肥肉、紅燒肉、海米和一朵味道濃郁的香菇。

Until I arrived in Beijing about seven years ago, I only tasted savory dumplings. Our southern rice dumplings were fat, perfect pyramids stuffed with chestnuts, a single salted egg yolk, lots of fat, soy sauce-seasoned pork, dried shrimps and an intensely fragrant dried mushroom.

經過這么多年，我已經習慣了北方人做粽子時加入大量的豆類、谷物、蓮子、大棗和豆沙。

After all these years, I have gotten used to the northern dumplings that use a lot of beans, cereals, lotus nuts, dates and sweetened bean pastes as filling.

說到不加肉的甜味粽子，我丈夫特別喜歡紅豆沙口味的。紅豆也叫赤豆，是一種褐紅色的味道香甜的豆子。

There is something to be said for the meatless sweet dumplings. My husband particularly enjoys dumplings made with red beans, the fragrant maroon seeds that are also known as adzuki beans.

我在粽子中加入一些事先泡好的蓮子，煮的時候會散發出美妙的清香，這是純天然的味道。

I add some pre-soaked lotus nuts to the dumplings and when they are cooked, they are beautifully fragrant, and it's all natural.

在云南的家里，我們常常會買一種叫做“糯米香”的茶葉。這種茶葉的名字恰恰歸結了優質糯米所具備的特點——香糯可口。

In our Yunnan home, we often buy a tea that's called nuomi xiang -- named after the fragrance of glutinous rice. That just about sums up what good glutinous rice should be, really aromatic and wonderfully sticky, of course.

以上我提供的做甜味和咸味粽子的食譜，簡便易行，在家里就能做。如果你包不出完美的圓錐形也不要著急，關鍵還是看粽子里面包裹的餡料。再說，無論如何你還可以把不成形的粽子用碗盛好蒸熟，做一道可口的八寶飯。

Here are my recipes for simple sweet and savory dumpling that you can make at home easily. Don't worry if you cannot get a perfect cone for your dumplings, what matters is what's inside. And there's nothing to stop you packing it into a bowl and steaming it to make a lovely rice pudding either.

(China Daily contributed the story, translated by Li Xiao for China.org.cn June 5, 2011)