The sales of zongzi, a time-honored delicacy that Chinese people eat during Dragon Boat Festival, have been on the rise in the eastern city of Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, as the festival is just about two weeks away.

The Dragon Boat Festival, also known as Duanwu Festival, is a traditional holiday in China. Celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese lunar calendar, it will fall on May 31 this year.

Zongzi, a glutinous rice dumpling wrapped in various kinds of plant leaves, usually sees its sales rise as flux of enthusiastic customers rush to local markets to buy the traditional snack.

As early as 7:00, zongzi stores in a local market in Ningbo started to sell freshly made zongzi to a long line of customers.
"As the Duanwu Festival is coming, I bought some zongzi for my family. Delicacy like this should be well prepared ahead of the festival," said a customer surnamed Gao.

Vendors at the market said they began to receive orders for bulk purchasing two weeks ago, and this year, the orders are mainly for gift box under 100 yuan (about 14 U.S. dollars).

Additionally, the sales of the ingredients of zongzi, like salted duck eggs, dried bamboo leaves, and glutinous rice are also growing as many customers prefer making the delicacy at home.

"The sales of bamboo leaves and glutinous rice have been growing as the Duanwu Festival draws near. For example, about a dozen of packed bamboo leaves and five kilograms of glutinous rice are enough for a family," said Cheng Xian, a vendor.

"The sales of salted duck egg have been really good. I can sell about 1,000 of them per day," said Zhao Qin, another vendor at the market.