By Song Yuanyuan

Dragon Boat festival falls on June 6 this year, and that means it's time for zongzi, the festival's traditional snack of sticky rice bundles wrapped in bamboo leaves. If you're still digesting your zongzi from last year, you might want to try out something new this season, and conveniently several makers have upgraded their traditional bundles, going beyond conventional fillings like dates, red bean paste, meat and egg yolks to mushrooms, seafood, kung pao chicken, and more.

Over the top

Some of the luxury options are getting downright ridiculous. The once rare and luxurious abalone filling has become more popular, and almost every brand is offering it.

Time-honored brand Wuweihe has recently launched "South Dynasty Royal zongzi," using four fresh ingredients: scallop, meat, Chinese mushroom and egg yolk together. Another time-honored brand, Caizhizhai, has even infused the Longjing Shrimp dish into its filling. Wufangzhai, from the famous zongzi city of Jiaxing, Zhenjiang Province, is also promoting a luxury zongzi stuffed with beef filet with abalone sauce.

Even restaurants and non-professional producers have also seized this zongzi season. Ermei Jiujia restaurant in Beijing has wrapped its most popular dishes, kung pao chicken and fried shredded sweet and sour pork, into the sticky rice.

Beijing's time-honored Bianyifang Roast duck restaurant group used its own duck meat as the major filling. Tianfuhao, Beijing's traditional maker of braised pork shoulder with soy sauce is filling zongzi with its pork meat and small dates.

Kaorou Ji, a famous restaurant of Beijing barbeque and Muslim dishes even made a dish with zongzi and beef, called stewed beef in zongzi.

And the ways of eating zongzi can be creative too. 20-year-old Dai Shanshan has a very sweet tooth, and she invented an "East meets West" way of eating zongzi, eating plain zongzi with evaporated milk or cream cheese. "You should first cut it into smaller pieces, and then dip it with whatever sauce you like. It is a good dessert," she insisted. Seventy two-year-old Du Shuzhen from Zhejiang Province likes eating zongzi for her breakfast, wrapped in an omelet.

"Make a thin layer of omelet and wrap the zongzi in, it is a very nutritious breakfast," Du said.

Eat healthy-ish

The major ingredient of zongzi, sticky rice, is very rich in minerals and vitamins, according to nutritionist, Xu Jun, a lecturer at the Beijing Nutritionist Club. "Along with other ingredients, zongzi is actually a quite rich and nutritious snack." But sticky rice, meat, dates, peanuts and other ingredients can be heavy if taken too much, which can cause some stomach problems, she warns.

Eating the zongzi with some digestion-enhancing food can help you eat it, Xu recommends. Eating a couple nuts before eating it will make you feel more full so you're less likely to overindulge in your massive monster of heavy rice and meat fillings.

Remember to eat it slowly, and after eating it you can consume some sour vegetables or drink some barley tea. Vitamin B or Chinese digestion stimulating pills are also effective, according to Xu.

People with chronic diseases including diabetes, high blood pressure, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases should avoid eating them, or just eat a few small bites, as the greasiness can affect circulation. Generally speaking, adult males should eat fewer than five zongzi, and women should eat fewer than three. And maybe have a vegetable or two.