The Chinese New Year is around the corner, and people throughout the whole country are preparing for New Year. Talking about the customs in this special festival, there is no doubt that lots of different pictures will emerge from our minds, for example, professionals who go out of their hometowns for searching money and earning lives have days off and get on the trains towards their homes, families put various and delicate cutouts up cooperatively, children play fireworks with their parents and neighbors and so on. There are a number of customs about The Spring Festival, and due to the expansive territories and numerous nations in China, there are quite different customs in different area of China, so do the eye-catching cooking cultures. Today, let me introduce several special cooking cultures in China to you！
春节快要到了。提到中国的春节习俗，大家肯定会想到在外地工作的人们放假后踏上回家的旅途、漂亮的贴在窗户上的剪纸还有小孩和父母邻居一起玩烟花等等。关于春节的习俗很多，我国民族众多，幅员辽阔，各地的习俗也不一样，各地不同的饮食文化更是格外亮眼。今天，就让我来介绍介绍，各地不同的春节美食文化吧！
As we all know, people in north of China adore cooked wheaten food, like noodles, dumplings, wonton and so on, as well as people in Shan Dong province. Especially in New Year, dumplings are pretty essential and necessary. Dumplings in New Year’s Eve are radically different from in other typical days. In this day, families will sit together and watch Spring Festival Gala while surrounding a table and making dumplings using flour. Adults will talk about the new year’s plans as teaching their kids to make dumplings, for the sake of waiting for a new year, which is called “Ao Nian”. people finish this dumpling dinner before 12 o’clock in Eve, which means we have been older for one year, so people entitled this dinner “Zengsui dinner”. Surprisingly, dumplings in that day, made by vegetables and tofu, which both are vegetarian, symbolize the coming year plainly and safely, and the soup will be more than usual, which symbolizes that happiness and wealth are more abundant in the coming year.
众所周知，北方人喜吃面食，像面，饺子，馄饨等等，山东人也不例外，尤其是过年时，饺子是少不了的。这顿饺子可和一般的饺子大不一样，大年三十，就着馒头吃菜后，一家子开始坐下来，一边看春晚，一边围着桌子和面粉、包饺子。大人们一边谈论着新年的计划，一边教小孩子包饺子，等候新一年的到来，俗称“熬年”。在 12 点以前把饺子煮熟，待热气腾腾的饺子端上桌，便长了一岁，故此这顿饺子也叫“增岁饭”。令人惊讶的是，山东人大年三十除夕夜吃的饺子，是素馅的，里面多是些白菜、豆腐之类，取来年“素净平安一整年”之意，而且煮饺子的水一定要比平时多放许多，来年日子好“绰绰有余”。
In south of China, there is a special place having special customs--eating Zong Zi in The Spring Festival. Many people, no matter from foreign countries or China, will absolutely confuse about it. Do Chinese people make Zong Zi in Dragon Boat Festival in honor of Qu Yuan? But in Guang Xi, it is really true that people will make and eat Zong Zi in The Spring Festival, which is named “Zong Zi like pillow” because of its large size and special shape. It’s rather enough for a whole family to eat. There are a variety of “Zong Zi like pillow”, like Zong Zi made by meat, ribs, jujubes or red bean paste. In Guang Xi, people make Zong Zi not only for in memory of Qu Yuan or merely as a present while visiting relatives but also for viewing it as a mascot. Eating Zong Zi every year means fortune in every year and there are blessing and luck in Zong Zi.
在中国的南方，有个地方的春节习俗格外特别--春节吃粽子。很多人可能会很不解，不是端午节为了纪念屈原，人们才包粽子吗？但是在广西就的确有这样一个习俗，过年要包粽子，这种粽子当地称为“枕头粽”,因其长大肥硕，形如枕头，故名枕头粽，可供一家人食用。其品种繁多，有肉粽、排骨粽、枣栗粽、豆沙粽等。在广西，粽子不仅仅是为了纪念历史人物屈原，粽子也不仅是逢年过节的送礼佳品，广西人赋予了粽子新的意义，广西人更把粽子当作是一种吉祥物，年年粽年年中，广西人包粽子吃粽子图的是一种吉利了。
No matter how different the customs are around the whole country, there are still simple purposes--celebrate the union of family and wish safeness and blessing in the coming year.
不管各地的饮食风俗、吃法如何不一，目的却是相同的，那就是庆祝阖家团圆，也希望在新的一年里平平安安，吉祥如意。
