The custom of eating Yuanxiao originated from when and where, and people have different opinions. It is said that at the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, King Chu Zhao passed through the Yangtze River on his way back from the country, and he saw something floating on the river, which was white and yellowish, and there was a pulp as red as rouge in it, which tasted sweet. People didn't know what it was, so King Zhao sent someone to ask Confucius. Confucius said: "This duckweed fruit is also a sign of the revival of the owner."

Because this day is the fifteenth day of the first month, on this day in the future, King Zhao ordered his men to imitate this fruit with flour and cook it with red stuffing made of hawthorn. There is also a saying that Yuanxiao was originally called glutinous rice balls. When 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. These two legends are not recorded in historical materials, so they are not credible.

There are many ways to eat Yuanxiao, such as boiling, frying, frying and steaming. If the solid Lantern Festival is cooked with fermented liquor, sugar and osmanthus, it has a unique flavor and is suitable for this supplement.

Yuanxiao is a round food made of glutinous rice flour, which can be divided into two types: solid and stuffed. There are sweet and salty ones with stuffing. Sweet fillings generally include lard bean paste, white sugar sesame, nuts, hemp, almonds, ginkgo, hawthorn and so on; Salty stuffing generally includes diced fresh meat, diced ham and dried shrimps. Yuanxiao with mustard, onion, garlic, leek and ginger is called "Five-flavor Yuanxiao", which means hard work, long-term progress.