A community in the Dongcheng district of Beijing organizes residents to make dumplings together on Thursday as many choose to stay near their jobs rather than return to their hometowns for family reunions during the upcoming Spring Festival holidays. Thursday was xiaonian in northern China in the Chinese Lunar Calendar, a day on which it's traditional to make some good food for the kitchen god. Photo: cnsphoto

It has been a long-standing tradition for Chinese people to stuff "fortune coins" into dumplings during the Spring Festival, as it is believed they will bring luck to whoever eats it for the coming year. However, the "fortune coin" custom proved not so fortunate for an 11-year-old boy, who accidentally ate two, which remained in the stomach until 2021. 

After suffering from repeated stomachaches and fevers, the boy eventually went to hospital in Xinxiang, Central China's Henan Province. 

After performing a gastroscopy, doctors found two coins sitting inside the boy's belly, both seriously corroded by stomach acid, suggesting that they had been there for quite a long time.

When asked how the coins got inside, the boy's family suddenly recalled that he had eaten coin-stuffed dumplings at 2020 Spring Festival. The parents said they had noticed the boy was suffering from stomachaches before but did not pay attention until this time.

Luckily, the coins were eventually removed and the boy is recovering.

Global Times