Laba Festival refers to the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. The Laba Festival is a festival used to worship ancestors and gods and pray for a good harvest and auspiciousness.
In China, there is a custom of drinking Laba porridge and soaking Laba garlic during the Laba Festival. In Henan and other places, Laba porridge is also called “Family Rice”. It is a festival food custom in honor of the national hero Yue Fei.
Eating habits:
1 Laba Porridge
There is a custom of drinking Laba porridge on Laba day. Laba porridge is also called “Seven Treasures and Five Flavor Porridge”. The history of drinking Laba porridge in my country has been more than a thousand years. It first started in the Song Dynasty. On the day of Laba, whether it is the imperial court, the government, the temple or the common people, they all make Laba porridge. In the Qing Dynasty, the custom of drinking Laba porridge was even more prevalent.

2 Laba Garlic
In most areas of North China, on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, there is a custom of soaking garlic with vinegar, which is called “Laba garlic”. Soaking Laba garlic is a custom in North China. More than ten days after Laba, it is the Spring Festival. Due to the soaking in vinegar, the garlic is green as a whole, which is very beautiful, and the vinegar also has the spicy taste of garlic. On New Year’s Eve, around the Spring Festival, I eat dumplings and cold dishes with Laba garlic and vinegar, and it tastes very good.

There is a saying that after Laba is the Chinese New Year, every household starts to stock up on food for the Chinese New Year.