Chinese Festivals - Laba Festival

The last lunar month is called the month of "La" in Chinese and "Ba" means eight. Therefore, Laba Festival (La Ba Jie - 腊八节) falls on the 8th day of the 12th lunar month in Chinese calendar. It used to be a religious holiday from Buddhism, but becomes popular now among the general publics in China.

Legend goes that Sakyamuni (565 B. C.- 486 B. C. ), the founder of Buddhism, becomes Buddha on the 8th of the 12th lunar month. It is said on that day he, for searching ways of people's life, traveled thousands of miles across mountains and rivers but fell down because of hunger and thirst. A girl came to save him with a bowl of milky porridge. Sakyamuni sat in deep thought under a bodhi tree, and became Buddha. Therefore, monks in temples on that day would make "porridge for Buddha", a porridge with fragrant rice and other food grains to cherish the memory for him. The porridge is made with five food ingredients as walnut, pine nut, milky grass, persimmon and chestnut. The custom of having the specially made porridge soon became a popular culture among Chinese people and they give the porridge a name as the
festival: "Laba Congee" or "Laba Porridge".

Today the porridge is cooked in various ways. In Southern China, people put lotus seed, lotus root, etc. in the porridge; in Northwestern China, people put mutton in and, in some area, people cook noodles with bittern juice from eight vegetables called "Laba Noodle". In Beijing district, people cook the porridge and have it frozen and eat it day by day. Today in many temples, porridge is offered free for people. Whether it is noodles or porridge they cook, it is the wish of the people for health and a better life in the coming year. The congee is of course extremely healthy and delicious itself. Laba porridge is not only easy to prepare,
but also a nutritious winter food because it contains amino acids, protein, vitamins and other nutrition people need. Cooked nuts and dried fruit are good for soothing nerves, nourishing one's heart and vitality, and strengthening the spleen. Perhaps that is why it is also called babao (Eight Treasure) porridge.

by jason(qingzhao guo)
reference:http://www.simple-chinese.com/chinese-culture/chinese-festivals-laba-festival.html