1. Dumplings.

Dumplings are an indispensable food on the New Year's Eve dinner table in the north. Dumplings and Jiao are homophonic, which means "Gengsui Jiaozi".

In addition, dumplings are shaped like ingots. Eating dumplings during the Spring Festival means "bringing in wealth." People also wrap coins in dumplings. People who eat the dumplings will have good fortune in the new year.

2. Boil noodles with dumplings.

In many places in Henan, dumplings and noodles are eaten on the morning of New Year's Day, which is called "Golden Thread Wearing Yuanbao".

On New Year's Eve, the dumplings are cooked and eaten, which is called "fishing for ingots".

3. Rice cake.

In the early days, people in Suzhou made rice cakes to commemorate Wu Zixu. Later, they gradually became popular all over the country, such as red date rice cakes in Shandong, mince rice cakes in Beijing, taro rice cakes and red/white sugar rice cakes in Fujian, water mill rice cakes in Ningbo, and rice cakes in Suzhou.

Osmanthus sugar rice cake, etc.

Rice cake, which is homophonic to "nian high", is a must-have food during the Spring Festival, embodying people's expectations of "nian high".

4. Noodles.

In some areas of Fujian, noodles (mostly noodles) are eaten on the morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year, which means "long-term".

5. Fish.

The Spring Festival diet pays great attention to the meaning, and of course fish is indispensable. It is usually the last dish on the table. In some places, this dish is almost not eaten, which means "more than enough every year".

And some places are also particular about the choice of fish for New Year's Eve dinner. Silver carp means more than one year after year, crucian carp and carp mean good luck, and salmon means more than wealth.

6. Wontons.

In Jingjiang, Jiangsu, whether you are entertaining guests, celebrating festivals or celebrating weddings, you must eat wontons.

On the morning of New Year's Eve, every household begins to chop vegetables and stuff them into wontons, which they eat from the 30th of the New Year to the 15th day of the first lunar month. "Wontons are like wine, and the more you eat, the more you get." This expresses the good wishes of Jingjiang people for the new year.

7. Tangyuan.

In Sichuan, glutinous rice balls are eaten for breakfast on the first day of the Lunar New Year. The glutinous rice balls on this day are called "Yuanbao", and eating glutinous rice balls is called "De Yuanbao", which means reunion, perfection and sweetness.

On the first day of the New Year, people in Yangzhou eat Sixi Tangyuan, which means everything goes well and the family is reunited; people in Shanghai also eat Tangyuan for breakfast on the first day of the New Year, which means perfection, wealth and power.

8. Chicken.

"No feast without chicken" is a mantra of the Cantonese people. People in Guangdong and Hong Kong must eat chicken during the Chinese New Year. The pronunciation of chicken is similar to that of Ji, which means that life is auspicious and wishful.

People in Hubei drink chicken soup during the Chinese New Year, which symbolizes peace and tranquility.

Chicken wings mean spreading your wings and flying high, chicken feet mean "making money in the New Year", and eating chicken bones means "getting ahead".

9. Glutinous rice cake.

The Tujia people in Xiangxi, Hunan, have a saying of "making daddy at the age of twenty-eight".

On the twentieth day of the twelfth lunar month, Tujia people eat glutinous rice cakes, and Hakka people also have the habit of eating glutinous rice cakes during the festival.

10. Zongzi.

Zhuang people in Guangxi have the custom of eating rice dumplings during the Chinese New Year. Zhuang people make or buy rice dumplings a few days before the Spring Festival every year. They must eat rice dumplings when guests come over on the first and second days of the lunar new year.