Special foods in Southern China during Spring Festival

• Source: Global Times
• [09:43 February 08 2010]
• Comments

In Anhui Province, there are two fish on the table. One is carp, which is mostly for decoration as it symbolizes paying respects to the ancestors to bless the whole family. The other fish is chub or lian yu, where “lian” means connecting and growing, or to have a growing family. In Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, people will eat rice cake, braised fish, fried noodles and soup, which mean being happy, wealthy, and healthy in next year.

Meat with bamboo shoots

Chub

Carp

People in Northern Jiangsu Province serve a dish called ji zhua dou or chicken grasping bean. The dish is made of chicken claws that look like hands and soya beans indicating coins, which means getting coins and being rich in the coming new year in Chinese.

In Anqing, the southwestern part of Anhui Province, the breadwinners of each family will eat a bowl of noodles before the banquet to express their affection for the whole family.