The production of ci tuan has a long history, and the specific time is no longer traceable. According to legend, there are "rice draft day" and "rice birthday" in the eighth month of the lunar calendar. The Wu people cooked new glutinous rice and red beans to make balls for worshiping the stove, which are called "ci tuan". The source of Jiaoxi ci tuan comes from Jiaoxi, Zhenglu and other places in the northeast of Tianning District. The terrain here is low and flat, with abundant rainfall. There are complete and high-quality varieties of rice such as japonica, indica, and glutinous rice, as well as rich varieties of fruits and vegetables. The abundant products provide inexhaustible raw materials for the production of ci tuan. In the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China, Jiaoxi ci tuan had formed its unique formula and production skills. The main ingredients are high-quality local glutinous rice, and the fillings are sweet and salty. The sweet fillings include sesame fillings, red bean fillings, brown sugar fillings, etc., and the salty fillings include vegetable, meat and other meat and vegetable fillings. The auxiliary ingredients are sugar, soybean powder, cooked sesame, etc. In the old days, almost every household in Jiaoxi and Zhenglu could make glutinous rice balls, which were mainly inherited by the group, and then gradually became mainly inherited by the family and master-apprentice inheritance. In the 1930s, local residents Gao Xuanling and his wife opened Jiaoxi Xuan'anxian porridge shop in Jiaoxi Old Street, and they were famous for selling glutinous rice balls. Since then, the Gao family has been making glutinous rice balls for a living in Jiaoxi and surrounding areas, and it has been four generations. Originally, Jiaoxi glutinous rice balls were generally made before the 15th day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar, and their round and flat shape was similar to the full moon of the Mid-Autumn Festival. On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, it was a custom for every household in Jiaoxi to offer glutinous rice balls to the moon, taste glutinous rice balls and enjoy the full moon. Later, glutinous rice balls also appeared during the Chinese New Year. Many families usually started making, eating and celebrating the harvest around the 20th day of the twelfth lunar month. There is a saying: "The fresh dumplings are pickled into meat by the 16th day of the Chinese New Year", which means that the dumplings are eaten after the Chinese New Year is over. In addition to these common glutinous rice balls, Jiaoxi has also developed a solid dumpling for throwing graves, which is specially used for funerals and sacrifices. The host throws it to the participants to express farewell to the deceased and wish the living good luck. With the passage of time and the evolution of skills, in addition to glutinous rice balls, Jiaoxi folk glutinous rice balls are also divided into glutinous rice balls and steamed rice balls. Steamed rice balls are white or green in color, and the fillings include green vegetables, shepherd's purse, shredded radish, three diced bamboo shoots, fresh meat, red bean paste, pine nuts, black sesame, walnuts, etc. Depending on the filling, the shape of the dumpling is also different. For example, the vegetable filling is often oval, the shredded radish is in the shape of a pinched nose, the bean paste is in the shape of a longevity peach, and the sesame is in the shape of a pillow. Steamed rice balls are widely used in important activities such as sacrifices, moving, marriage, beam raising, birthday celebrations, etc., and are given the meaning of celebration, harvest, and wishes. However, glutinous rice balls often have no shape and are purely for edible purposes. Moreover, with the satisfaction of modern material conditions, people have changed from pursuing food and clothing to advocating health preservation, so new varieties of health-preserving glutinous rice balls have been developed, including barley leaf salted egg yolk meat floss green balls, barley leaf red bean paste pine nut green balls, black rice black sesame walnut balls, pumpkin walnut oil crisp yellow balls, etc. The production process of Jiaoxi glutinous rice balls is divided into the steps of mixing flour, beating cooked starch, mixing flour, kneading dough, picking embryos, wrapping balls, and rolling balls. The biggest difference between Jiaoxi glutinous rice balls and glutinous rice products in other regions is that although the glutinous rice is kneaded into a dumpling skin, the rice grains on it are still intact, crystal clear, and clearly visible. Even glutinous rice balls with fillings have a firm appearance and are not soft and collapsed. If it is a steamed ball, it is usually placed on a zong leaf after it is made. Some people also use tender bamboo shoot shells or fresh barley instead, which can prevent the balls from sticking together on the one hand and add the fragrance of the plants on the other hand. The period when the glutinous rice balls are cooled after being steamed is also the period when children rush to "dot red" for the dumplings. Small hands, holding the fruits of the mantou grass or a simple bamboo chopstick, dipped in plant pigments, and dotted on the white and plump dumplings, the festive atmosphere immediately became strong. Jiaoxi glutinous rice balls embody the characteristics of the elegant and refined folk snacks in the water towns of the south of the Yangtze River, and the food is never tired of fine food. At the same time, it is fun to eat and literary in food. In eating, you can not only satisfy your stomach, but also feel fun and poetry. In recent years, with the economic growth and changes in life, Changzhou Jiaoxi dumplings are also accelerating their development and evolution. Physical workshops and production industries have moved from Changzhou to the East China region and are gradually sold all over the country. At present, more than ten direct-operated specialty stores have been laid out in Changzhou City. In the market outside Changzhou, Jiaoxi dumplings are uniformly packaged and named "Sunuo Changzhou dumplings" for consumers. (No pictures yet, welcome to provide.) (No pictures yet, welcome to provide.)