3-1-7 Jiaozi (boiled dumplings)

Jiaozi (boiled dumplings stuffed with meat and vegetable filling) are also known as gengnian jiaozi (seeing in the new year dumplings). Although boiled dumplings have been a favorite food of the Chinese people for thousands of years, they have only been essential element of the lunar New Year's festivities since the Ming Dynasty. Jiaozi are the exact size and shape of the small gold ingots that were used for money in ancient China, so eating jiaozi satisfies the desire for wealth. Of course, jiaozi are also incomparably delicious, so on New Year's Eve, virtually everyone in China can be found eating this holiday dish. When vendors boil jiaozi to sell, they will often deliberately break one or two in the pot. But they do not remark upon this with taboo words, such as "break," "shatter," or "disintegrate." Rather, they say that the dumpling's filling has "burst," which in Chinese is a homonym for the auspicious phrase "to get rich."

There are many different regional customs concerning eating jiaozi to celebrate the lunar New Year. In some places, they are eaten on the last day of the year, and called tuanyuan jiaozi (reunion dumplings); in others they are eaten on New Year's Day and called nianfan (first meal of the new year). People in some regions traditionally eat jiaozi on the fifth day of the New Year. This day is known as Powu (Broken Fifth), so they are called (Broken Fifth dumplings). And in some places, people eat jiaozi late into New Year's Eve and continue throughout New Year's Day, symbolizing continuing abundance from year to year. But the most common practice is staying up late on New Year's Eve wrapping, boiling, and eating dumplings to mark the transition between the old and new years. These jiaozi are called gengnian jiaozi (seeing in the New Year dumplings), signifying that the New Year will bring good luck and abundance.