A bunch of the traditional Chinese delicacy Zongzi dating back over 2,000 years have been discovered in an ancient tomb excavated in Xinyang, Henan Province, according to the Henan Provincial Institute of Cultural Heritage and Archaeology.

Zongzi, usually pyramid-shaped, is made of glutinous rice stuffed with different fillings and wrapped in bamboo or reed leaves. Chinese people eat this sticky food to mark the Dragon Boat Festival every year.

The tomb where the discovery was made belongs to a noble of the ancient state of Chu during the mid-Warring States Period (475 BC-221 BC).

According to archaeologists, there are 40 such zongzi-like "wraps" stuffed with grain food discovered in the tomb in their entirety, with some more broken ones scattered about in the tomb.

The "wraps," each measuring approximately 10 to 15 cm in diameter, are wrapped in wide leaves, and tied with strings or stalks.

Using microscopes, archaeologists found 39 out of the 40 "wraps" were stuffed with uncooked rice still with husks on, and one stuffed with a kind of millet.

The plant used as wrapping was determined to be Quercus leaf, which tallies with the present-day custom practiced in the west and south of Henan of wrapping Zongzi with Quercus leaf.

"Judged from the archaeological discoveries and customary practices, these Quercus-leaf wraps stuffed with grain are the earliest Zongzi discovered by archaeologists," said Lan Wanli, an archaeologist with the Henan Provincial Institute of Cultural Heritage and Archaeology.

The Dragon Boat Festival, also called Duanwu Festival, is celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth month on the Chinese lunar calendar.

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