The rice cakes eaten during the New Year and festivals are mostly seasonal foods made from glutinous rice (jiangmi) or glutinous rice flour with different auxiliary ingredients added.

There are many types of rice cakes. Representative ones include white cakes from the north, yellow rice cakes from farmers in Saibei, water-milled rice cakes from Jiangnan water towns, and red turtle cakes from Taiwan. Rice cakes have different flavors from the north to the south.

Northern rice cakes can be steamed or fried, both of which are sweet. In addition to steaming and deep-frying, southern rice cakes can also be fried in slices and boiled in soup, with both sweet and salty flavors.

It is said that the earliest rice cakes were used to worship gods and ancestors on New Year's Eve, and later became a Spring Festival food.

New year cake is not only a holiday delicacy, but also brings new hope to people every year. As a poem from the late Qing Dynasty puts it: "The hearts of the people are so high that they make food with harmonious sounds, meaning that the year is better than the year, and they are used to pray for good years."

Eating rice cakes during the New Year is one of the customs of the Chinese people. , New Year cake is a must-have holiday food during the New Year. It is said that it spread from Suzhou. There is a legend about its origin:

During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period in ancient times, Suzhou was the capital of the State of Wu. At that time, the princes were dominant and wars raged for years. In order to prevent the enemy from attacking, Wu State built a strong city wall.

On this day, King Wu held a feast to celebrate. During the banquet, the officials indulged in wine and merriment, thinking that with a strong city, they could sit back and relax. Seeing this scene, Prime Minister Wu Zixu was deeply worried. He called his personal entourage and told him: "The civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty now believe that high walls can protect the peace of Wu. Although the city walls can resist enemy soldiers, the people inside will also be restrained if they want to go out. If the enemy surrounds them without fighting, Isn't the state of Wu trapped in a cocoon? If I forget about it, it will lead to disaster. If something happens to me and the state of Wu is trapped and there is no food, you can go dig three feet under Xiangmen City to get food." The followers thought that Wu Zixu had drunk too much wine, so he didn't take it seriously. Not long after, the king died, and Fu Chai succeeded to the throne. He listened to Greedy's words and ordered Wu Zixu to commit suicide. Gou Jian, the king of Yue, then raised his troops to attack Wu and surrounded the capital of Wu. The Wu army was trapped in the city, with no food and cooking, and the cries of women and children in the streets were unbearable. At this time, the attendant remembered Wu Zixu's previous instructions, and hurriedly called the neighbors to dig in the ground outside Xiangmen to collect food. When they dug three feet deep under the city wall, they discovered that the city bricks were made of glutinous rice flour. Suddenly people were so excited that they knelt down towards the city wall and thanked Wu Zixu. These glutinous rice noodles saved the people in the city. From then on, during the Chinese New Year, every household used glutinous rice flour to make "city bricks" (which is how the rice cake looks) to worship Wu Zixu. Over time, it became known as rice cake.

On the first day of the Spring Festival, people eat rice cakes early in the morning, which means "higher every year".