jiaozi on dongzhi

Today was the festival of “dongzhi” (??), the solar term used in Asian countries for winter solstice. In other words the shortest day.
From my friend Cindy I heard that in Beijing people should eat jiaozi on this day, so she and I went to do exactly that!
She took me to this great place hidden in a hutong behind the Novotel in Jinyu hutong: da xian jiao zi, which means so much as jiaozi with big filling. It was a very small place and since we were not the only ones to keep tradition, we had to wait for a while in the small open courtyard. Probably during Summer they use this areas also to serve customers. Later on Cindy’s friend Ellyn arrived and all three we munched on lots of jiaozi with different fillings accompanied by some delicious side dishes.
Before we knew it, it was midnight and the staff of the restaurant kicked us out