In some places in Hubei, the first meal of the Spring Festival is chicken soup, which symbolizes "peaceful and clear collar". In addition, the main labor force in the family must eat chicken feet, which means "grabbing money in the New Year"; Young students want to eat chicken wings, which means they can fly high; Family members eat chicken bones, which means "getting ahead". Jingzhou, Shashi area, the first meal to eat eggs, meaning "true, auspicious." Guests should eat two half-cooked "poached eggs", and the yolk can be seen through the protein, which means "gold is covered with silver, gold is covered with silver, and gold is covered with silver".
The first meal in Poyang, Jiangxi Province is to eat jiaozi and fish, which means "making friends" and "more than a year". Some people put candy, flowers and silver coins in jiaozi, which means "sweet life", "immortality" and "getting rich in the new year".
In some places in Guangdong, the first meal of the Spring Festival is to eat "grain for ten thousand years", that is, to prepare enough food for the whole family for three days of the Spring Festival, which means "don't worry about eating or drinking". In Chaozhou, the first meal is often "rotten round" fried with rice flour and dried radish, and "five-fruit soup" boiled with Gordon Euryale seeds and lotus seeds, which means "life is sweet and has a long history".
Guangxi Zhuang people eat sweets at the first meal of the Spring Festival, which means that life in the new year is beautiful and sweet.
People in southern Fujian eat noodles for the first meal during the Spring Festival, which means "growing old every year". Sausages, preserved eggs and ginger are eaten in Zhangzhou, which means that "the days are getting more and more prosperous".
In some places in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, the first meal of the Spring Festival is a "spring dish" consisting of celery, leeks and bamboo shoots, which means "hard work for a while".
In some places in Anhui, everyone should eat a bite of raw radish at the first meal of the Spring Festival, which is called "biting spring", which can "sterilize and prevent diseases and make the New Year auspicious".
In some places in Guanzhong and Henan, the first meal of the Spring Festival is cooked with rice and noodles in jiaozi, which is called "gold thread running through an ingot" and "silver thread hanging gourd".