Wednesday is the traditional Chinese “Laba Festival", celebrated on the 8th day of the last month of the Chinese lunar calendar. The event reminds people that the Spring Festival is just around the corner and is a day when eating porridge is not to be taken lightly.

The oldest temple in Beijing is embracing tradition by handing out free porridge. And despite the freezing temperature, crowds of people are swarming in, eager to sample the fare.

This porridge looks delicious. In China, it’s also called ’eight treasure porridge’ as its ingredients include a nutritious mix of glutinous rice, red beans and peanuts. Before it gets cold, let me have a try.

The traditional eight treasure porridge has developed over the ages. The kind served here at the temple usually combines 13 different ingredients, based on the auspicious number in Buddhism. However, three more are suggested by Mr. Shen, a scholar of vegetarian culture from Taiwan.

"Tanzhe Temple invited me to consult them on vegetarian cooking. We add oats, wheat and buckwheat to make a healthier porridge, so followers will get more nutrition from it," scholar Shen Songmao said.

While some believe Laba porridge is related to sacrificial rituals held on this day by our ancestors, the temples have different versions. They say that enlightened Sakyamuni became Buddha on the eighth day of the last lunar month, or "Laba" in Chinese. Earlier, however, a shepherdess had saved him from fatigue and hunger with a bowl of porridge. As time went by, the two celebrations were combined.

"I am a Buddhist. This morning I got up at five thirty and drove over 30 kilometers to get here. Besides being a tradition, it’s also a time to pray for blessings for family and friends."

However, most people crowding into the temple are not Buddhists, but simply visitors. They have travelled to the western suburbs of Beijing to take in the nice scenery, and of course the porridge.

"Three of my family members and my neighbors came together this morning. I want my son to experience the traditional celebration here. It’s also a blessing for the coming new year."

According to the organiser, they have been preparing for this event for a month. It has taken 10 hours to just to cook the porridge, all the ingredients donated by Buddhist followers.

"We have cooked almost 30 big barrels of porridge for this Laba festival, not only for visitors. After this event here, we will take porridge to elderly people at nursing homes and give them blessings for the coming year," said Shao Xiguo, manager of Tanzhe Temple Admin. Office.

A bowl of porridge stands for the benevolence of giving. And although it’s a thousand years old, this Chinese tradition is still going strong, bringing happiness in the form of tasty hot porridge during the chilly winter season.