For breakfast and lunch on New Year's Eve, there are no special requirements—just eat as usual. However, the evening reunion dinner (New Year's Eve feast) demands careful preparation.
As the saying goes, "No matter how much you scold or criticize, on the 30th night, we all gather for a meal." According to Chinese folk tradition, the New Year's Eve feast holds significant meaning, typically featuring dumplings, wontons, long noodles, and glutinous rice balls.
1. Yuanxiao (Glutinous Rice Balls)
Also known as tangyuan, these are more common in southern China. Made by rolling glutinous rice dough into balls (often filled with various flavors), they are boiled in water. They symbolize family reunion. Yuanxiao are typically eaten as breakfast or as a main dish during the New Year feast, popular both in restaurants and at home.
2. Wontons
Eating wontons during the New Year symbolizes a fresh start. Legend has it that Pangu separated heaven and earth, allowing "the light and pure qi to rise and form the sky, while the heavy and turbid qi settled below to form the earth," ending the primordial chaos and creating the universe.Additionally, the homophonic association of "wonton" (馄饨) with "abundant grain stores" (浑囤) symbolizes granaries brimming with food.
3. Dumplings
One of China's traditional foods, also known as flat dumplings or boiled buns. Historically, only wontons existed, not dumplings.Later, by shaping wontons into crescent moons, dumplings were created. By the Tang Dynasty, the custom of eating dumplings had spread to China's remote regions. On New Year's Eve, as the clock strikes twelve, people begin eating dumplings. This moment marks the arrival of the Zi hour, symbolizing the transition from old to new.
4. Long Noodles
Also known as longevity noodles, eating them during the New Year expresses wishes for a hundred years of life. In ancient times, all noodle dishes were called "bing" (cakes), so soup noodles were initially called "tangbing." The early noodle pieces were not rolled or pressed but torn by hand into the pot, similar to northern Chinese dishes like "crow's head" or "monkey ears."After the Tang Dynasty, rolling pins were used on wooden boards, leading to the gradual development of long noodles, short noodles, dry noodles, plain noodles, meat-based noodles, dried noodles...
Many regions also pair New Year's meals with side dishes for auspicious meanings.Eating jujubes (for an early spring), dried persimmons (for smooth affairs), almonds (for happiness), tofu (for family harmony), three-delicacy dishes (for auspicious beginnings), peanuts (for longevity), and rice cakes (symbolizing rising fortunes year after year)...Of course, the variety of dishes on New Year's Eve dinner tables is even more abundant. Chicken, duck, fish, meat, delicacies from mountains and seas—virtually the finest dishes one might encounter throughout the year are laid out on the table.
Following folk traditions, New Year's Eve dinner customs vary across China: Northerners eat dumplings, Southerners enjoy rice balls or steamed rice cakes. In Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, and Guangdong, people eat glutinous rice balls (yuanxiao) on the first day of the New Year, either fried or boiled. Residents of Zhangzhou, Fujian, eat raw garlic and preserved eggs on the morning of the first day. Chaozhou people in Guangdong eat their local specialty "tofu balls" (fuyuan) on the first day.Hui Muslims eat noodles and stewed meat on the first day, reserving dumplings for the second day. 5. Rice Cakes The custom of eating rice cakes during the Spring Festival originated in the Song Dynasty and flourished in the Ming Dynasty. The practice evolved from the auspicious meaning of "year after year (sticky) higher (cake)" to symbolize continuous advancement and prosperity.
6. Fish
Eating fish during the Spring Festival carries special significance, symbolizing abundance year after year. Thus, enjoying fish during the holiday is a cherished custom among old Beijingers.