Eating steamed buns in the New Year means reunion, because the shape of steamed buns is round, and eating round things in the New Year will have a better symbol. Besides eating steamed stuffed buns, food such as glutinous rice balls and jiaozi is also essential for the Chinese New Year, and these foods have the same meaning of reunion as steamed stuffed buns.

There are great differences in food culture in different regions of China. Some areas will eat jiaozi in the New Year, while others will eat steamed buns in the New Year. For example, in Sheyang County, Yancheng City, Jiangsu Province, they will definitely eat steamed buns every New Year. In some places, they will start steaming steamed buns as soon as they enter the twelfth lunar month, a lot at a time.

Steamed buns are one of the traditional delicacies in China. According to legend, steamed bread was invented by Zhu Gekongming in the Three Kingdoms period, and the word steamed bun first appeared in the Song Dynasty, which is another name for steamed bread. In fact, there are some differences in the names of steamed buns between the north and the south of China. In the north, those without stuffing are called steamed buns, those with stuffing are called steamed buns, while in the south, those without stuffing are called big steamed buns.