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Today is the 8th day of the 12th lunar month, known as Laba Festival, the first festival in the twelfth lunar month. Does this classic nursery rhyme sound familiar to you?

Little kids, don’t crave treats yet,

Laba past, the New Year’s set.

We eat Laba porridge day after day,

Till the twenty-third comes our way.

23rd: sticky malt candy’s made,

24th: sweep the house without delay.

25th: deep-fry tofu nice and brown,

26th: braise meat to feast the town.

27th: slaughter chicken for New Year fare,

28th: knead dough and let it rise with care.

29th: steam fluffy buns one by one,

New Year’s Eve stays up till dawn’s begun.

On New Year’s Day we dance and have fun.

Once Laba is over, the New Year draws near.

The twelfth lunar month marks the close of a year.

In ancient China, grand winter rituals to worship deities and ancestors were called the Great La, and the sacrificial day was named La Day. Gradually, the 8th day of the twelfth lunar month was fixed as Laba Festival, a traditional occasion praying for bumper harvest and good fortune.

As told in the nursery rhyme, the arrival of Laba kicks off the countdown to Spring Festival, with festive atmosphere growing stronger each passing day.

After Laba, every household cleans courtyards and prepares festival meat. Wanderers working afar head back home to reunite with waiting families, chatting casually in familiar hometown accents. It is a warm season for family gatherings.

Laba Porridge: A Millennium-Old Tradition

The custom of enjoying Laba porridge in China dates back over one thousand years.

Back in the Song Dynasty, Laba porridge was cooked across imperial courts, government offices, temples and ordinary households on Laba Day. During the Qing Dynasty, emperors, empresses and princes would present Laba porridge to ministers, palace attendants and maids. Common families also made the porridge to honor ancestors, share it with all family members and send portions to relatives and friends as gifts.

Diverse versions of Laba porridge can be found all across China.

Elaborate recipes blend glutinous rice with more than twenty ingredients: red dates, lotus seeds, walnuts, chestnuts, almonds, pine nuts, longans, hazelnuts, raisins, ginkgo nuts, water caltrops, candied green strips, rose petals, red beans and peanuts. Preparations start on the night of the 7th: grains washed, fruits soaked, shells peeled and pits removed. Ingredients are boiled at midnight and simmered on gentle heat until early next morning to finish the porridge.

Some exquisite families even decorate the porridge with Fruit Lion ornaments.

Fruit Lions are handmade lion-shaped snacks composed of assorted dried fruits: pitted roasted crisp jujubes form the lion’s body, half a walnut kernel serves as its head, peach kernels as paws and sweet almonds as tails, fixed together with melted sugar and placed in porridge bowls to resemble tiny lions. Larger bowls may hold two or four fruit lions. For extra sophistication, pastes of jujube, red bean, Chinese yam and hawthorn cake in varied hues are shaped into the Eight Immortals, God of Longevity and arhat statues. Such ornate Laba porridge was once exclusively seen on offering tables of ancient grand temples.