You are here:Home > Travel > Recommendations > Folk Customs
A  |  A  |  A

Tasting Early Rice

2016-04-20

 

尝新.jpg

 

During the period of the Republic of China (1911-1949), farmers would invite their married daughter back home to have a dinner together after the harvest of early rice. The dinner consisting of wine, meat, fish and fresh vegetables was their first taste of the rice they cultivated that year. People call this tradition "Tasting New". Before the dinner, farmers should provide a bowl of rice and meat to dog. They firmly believed that seed-corn was bequeathed by the dog and it could predicate the price of rice and meat. If the dog eats meat first, meat would definitely more expensive than rice; and vise versa. Nowadays, the tradition of tasting new still prevails, but the dog is no longer served as forecaster.