The winter solstice is an importance solar term in the lunar calendar in our country, which is also a traditional festival. To date, residents in many places maintain their customs of celebrating the festival of winter solstice. As far as in the Spring and Autumn Period 2,500 years ago, our country adopted the methods of tugui to measure the shadow of the sun for determining the twenty-four solar terms. Among them, the winter solstice is the first to be fixed, roughly around 22-23 December in the lunar calendar.

The winter solstice is a day shortest daytime and longest darkness in the north hemisphere. Ever since then, the daytime will become longer and longer and it turns cold in all regions.

According to the modern astronomic research, the sun directly shines over the tropic of carpricorn on the day of winter solstice and therefore the most deviated from the north hemisphere. As a result, the daytime is shortest and the night is the longest. After that, the sun will move northward.

In the ancient times, our country placed emphasis on the winter solstice and celebrated it as a great festival. There is an old saying "the winter solstice is as great as the new year". In addition, there are customs of celebrating the winter solstice. People think that the winter solstice is a lucky day deserving to be celebrated as it is the beginning of a cycle of solar term with the daytime longer and longer.
Nowadays, the tradition of celebrating the winter solstice is maintained in some regions. In the north, people will eat dumpling and wonton while those in the south eat rice dumpling and long noodle. On the day of winter solstice, there is also the tradition of worshiping the God or ancestors.

冬至，是我国农历中一个非常重要的节气，也是一个传统节日，至今仍有不少地方有过冬至节的习俗。早在二千五百多年前的春秋时代，我国已经用土圭观测太阳测定出冬至来了，它是二十四节气中最早制订出的一个。时间在每年的阳历12月22日或者23日之间。

冬至是北半球全年中白天最短、黑夜最长的一天，过了冬至，白天就会一天天变长。冬至过后，各地气候都进入一个最寒冷的阶段。
现代天文科学测定，冬至日太阳直射南回归线，阳光对北半球最倾斜，北半球白天最短，黑夜最长，这天之后，太阳又逐渐北移。

在我国古代对冬至很重视，冬至被当作一个较大节日，曾有"冬至大如年"的说法，而且有庆贺冬至的习俗。人们认为：过了冬至，白昼一天比一天长，阳气回升，是一个节气循环的开始，也是一个吉日，应该庆贺。

现在，一些地方还把冬至作为一个节日来过。北方地区有冬至宰羊，吃饺子、吃馄饨的习俗，南方地区在这一天则有吃冬至米团、冬至长线面的习惯。各个地区在冬至这一天还有祭天祭祖的习俗。