Category:Chinese Food Traditions and Festivals

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On New Year’s Eve, a special vegetarian dish is eaten, called jai. This is made of root vegetables and fibrous vegetables: lotus seeds, ginkgo nuts, black moss, and dried bean curd and bamboo shots. All these are aliments that are believed to bring happiness and health. Fresh bean curd and tofu are considered unlucky, as the white colour represents death and misfortune in the Chinese culture. Other meals which are served on New Year are the whole meats, like chicken with head, tail and feet or whole fish. In the South, the most significant celebration meals are the nian gao (sweet rice) and the zong zi (rice in red leaves). In Northern China, man tou (stemmed bread) with meat dumplings is the most common meal on holidays. The crispy style shrimp with sweet and sour sauce is a dish that celebrates New Year and it is served with an Asian sauce. Other celebrations include Ching Ming or the Remembrance of Ancestors Day, the T`ien Hou, Birthday of Buddha (a springtime festival), Cheng Chau Festival, Mid Autumn or Dragon Boat Festival. On these days, people eat rice and meat dumplings, which are wrapped in bamboo leaves. During the Mid Autumn Festival, the moon cakes are very important, as during the revolution, messages were written on paper and then baked into these cakes.