When eating New Year's Eve in many places, the dishes on the table must be even, such as 6, 8, 10, 12, 16 and so on. So it's not bad for a family to eat at least six dishes and eight more. There are too many auspicious words and homophones about "8", and the dish of 10 is "perfect". More people can add even numbers, as long as it is not too wasteful.

The annual New Year's Eve dinner is a big meal that the whole family should mobilize. Every household will put on rare or auspicious dishes on weekdays: there are usually chicken (meaning planned), fish (meaning more than a year), glutinous rice balls (meaning reunion), lotus roots (meaning cleverness) and other dishes for good luck in the New Year.

The implication of eating jiaozi on New Year's Eve

In China folklore, eating "jiaozi" on New Year's Eve is an important feast that no food can replace. "jiaozi", also called "Jiaozi" or "Joule", means the alternation of old and new, and it is also a must-eat feast food.

Eating jiaozi means "making friends when I was young", while "Zi" means "Zi Shi", which is homophonic with "Jiao" and means "Happy Reunion" and "Good luck". In addition, jiaozi, which is shaped like an ingot, has the auspicious meaning of "making a fortune" when eating jiaozi in the New Year.

The most common leek stuffing means long-term wealth. Because long time means long time, long time, so it is called long-term wealth. A typical Chinese cabbage stuffing in winter means a hundred treasures. Finally, there is sauerkraut that Nanjing people love to eat, which is said to mean calculating wealth.