Jiaozi is eaten at noon on the winter solstice, but it is usually busy. In order to get together, most families choose to eat jiaozi together in the evening.

According to the literature, the custom of eating jiaozi during the Spring Festival appeared in the Ming Dynasty at the latest. Then it is particularly noteworthy that by the Qing Dynasty, this custom had become very widespread and had been fixed.

This custom has something to do with the ancient timekeeping method in China. In ancient China, twelve earthly branches were used to record the time of each day.

Let's divide every day into twelve time periods, so the beginning of every day is noon, which is equivalent to the time from 23: 00 to 1: 00 in the middle of the night today. Then at the end of each year, at the age of 30, this is not only the replacement of the old and new days, but the replacement of the old and new years. People in China call it "Jiaozi".