Origin: Yuanxiao was originally called glutinous rice balls. When the Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty arrived, there was a palace maid named Yuanxiao, who was very good at making glutinous rice balls. Since then, the world has been named after this palace maid.

Legend: According to legend, Lv Dongbin, one of the Eight Immortals, turned into an old man selling glutinous rice balls and peddled them by the West Lake in the spring of March. At this moment, Xu Xian happened to pass by and asked for a bowl. Inadvertently, a glutinous rice ball rolled down the West Lake and was swallowed by the white snake. So the white snake became immortal, turned into a human being, and married Xu Xian.

Difference:

1, the practice is different. Yuanxiao is rolled out, and the stuffing is cut into small pieces, placed in a wicker basket covered with a layer of rice flour, and continuously screened and rolled while sprinkling water to form Yuanxiao. Yuanxiao is only sweet. Tangyuan is made by adding water to glutinous rice, grinding the rice with a stone mill, draining and refrigerating the milled glutinous rice flour for three or four days, then adding water to form a dough and putting it for several hours to make a crust. ?

2. Different food festivals. Yuanxiao is the festival food of Lantern Festival. Tangyuan is a holiday food for southerners during the Spring Festival, the seventh day of the seventh lunar month and the Lantern Festival. It is also a traditional food for southerners to entertain their families who come home from afar, and its significance is equivalent to that of jiaozi in the north.