At 6:00 a.m., a long queue formed at the Luohan Temple for Laba porridge

CHONGQING (CQNEWS) -- A bowl of Laba porridge, a good Laba Festival. On January 2, Luohan Temple in Yuzhong District, Chongqing, as usual, distributed Laba porridge to citizens for free. Before dawn, the gate of Luohan Temple was full of people waiting for porridge.

A bowl of porridge: a good start for a year

Layue, the 12th month of the lunar calendar, also marks the end of the year. In ancient times, the day of ancestor worship in winter was called “Dala”, and the eighth day of the first lunar month was gradually defined as “La Day”, which prayed for a good harvest and implied good luck. No matter where you are, you may always want to drink a bowl of Laba porridge on Laba Festival.

It was still dark, while there were an endless stream of people coming to drink Laba porridge

At 6:00 in the morning, Chongqing’s winter day is not yet bright, and there is still white mist, but there were already citizens who waited in line to take the porridge one after another at the gate of Luohan Temple. Among the people in the queue were old couples with gray hair, good friends who accompanied by each other, and “acquaintances” who had come here many times and “new comers” who had come to experience.

Ms. Chen came to drink Laba porridge in Luohan Temple for the first time. She told the reporter that she used to make Laba porridge at home at Laba Festival in the past. But this year, when her friend said that Luohan Temple would make porridge, she came with her. “It’s very meaningful. It not only provided me with Laba porridge, but also carried my expectation. I hope that my parents and family will always be healthy.”

In the crowd, the reporter saw an aunt with an insulated box, “My husband broke his leg, so can I bring him a bowl?” Ms. Li, 60 years old, came to get porridge herself since her husband broke his leg. But she still wanted to share with him.

The fresh Laba porridge was fragrant

A group of people: witnessed the warmth of Laba Festival

Although it's just a small bowl of porridge, there’s a lot of things needed to be prepared. Laba porridge is a kind of porridge made from many kinds of materials. The traditional materials include rice, millet, coix seed, red dates, lotus seeds, peanuts, longan and various beans.

Although there were many people in line, they were in good order, which was naturally inseparable from the volunteers who were busy at the scene. Chen Pan, a volunteer, said that she has been working as a volunteer in Luohan Temple for a long time. The tradition of Laba Festival of the Temple is to serve Laba porridge, so she came to the temple to help at 5:00 a.m. that day. “We are very happy to serve citizens.”

At 7:30 a.m., volunteers began deliver porridge to the public

In addition to Laba porridge, Luohan Temple also prepared broad beans, salted vegetables and dried beans for the public.

When the reporter left Luohan Temple at 8:00 a.m., more and more people waited at the gate. Although it was cold, a bowl of steaming Laba porridge and a smiling face made Luohan Temple especially warm in winter.

New Year comes after Laba, and it’s time for people to be reunited after a year. 

Citizens enjoying Laba porridge 

(Translated by Luo Juan, Fathom Language Limited)