Generally speaking, it is more common to eat dumplings on the winter solstice, but there are some places that have the custom of eating dumplings on the first day of winter. Eating customs vary from place to place.

There is a proverb that says "Winter Solstice Dumplings and Summer Solstice Noodles", which suggests that the human body consumes a lot of calories during the cold winter months, so we should eat more nutritious food to replenish our calories. Therefore, the winter solstice has the custom of eating dumplings and wontons. Folk customs believe that if you don't eat dumplings on the winter solstice, you will freeze your ears off, and it is not good for agricultural harvests; another says that eating dumplings is in honor of Zhang Zhongjing, the king of medicine. Dumplings, wontons and buns, etc. will be more family members gathered around the table and eat, known as "steam winter".

Of course, there are exceptions, such as in Sichuan, Shandong Zaozhuang popular winter solstice on the day of the custom of drinking mutton soup, meaning to drive away the cold. Food customs vary from place to place, but eating dumplings is the most common.

In the Beijing-Tianjin area, people have the custom of eating dumplings in winter. Some folklore experts believe that winter is the turn of the season, is the "time of the cross", so this time to eat dumplings have "obedience to the will of heaven" meaning. Moreover, our country used to be a farming society, people who have been working for a year, take advantage of the day of winter to have a rest, and reward the family for their hard work in the year.

The winter solstice in the south has the custom of eating sweet foods such as soup dumplings and rice patties on the winter solstice. On the winter solstice, round foods made of rice and flour are eaten, i.e., "soup dumplings", "dumplings", "dumplings" (known as "pills" in northern China), taking the round shape as a symbol of the roundness of the dumplings, which symbolizes the hard work of the family throughout the year. "The round shape of the dumplings symbolizes the sky and the sun, and signifies the reunion at the end of the year. Soup dumplings with fillings are used to offer sacrifices to ancestors, while those without fillings are used to worship the gods.

People in coastal areas tend to make soup dumplings red and white to symbolize the intersection of yin and yang. Eating soup dumplings on the winter solstice also symbolizes a year of longevity. There is a proverb that says, "If you want to be rich, eat hot tofu at the winter solstice."