Lunar New Year Dumpling

            Every New Year is celebrated formally with fabulous dishes in the Chinese tradition. The types of fabulous dishes also differ in various locations of China. In the north, people normally eat dumplings whereas in the south, people have a tradition of eating rice cakes. Dumplings looked like an ingot, so they have a meaning of bringing people wealth. Rice cakes are sliced into layers, when they stick together it forms a stair shape which means it brings people to the next level. Chinese people love eating food with auspicious meanings during big festivals.

In my family, everyone gathers at my grandparent’s house to celebrate the Lunar New Year. They celebrate the Lunar New Year by eating dumplings because my grandparents are from the Dongbei which is located in the northern part of China. The dumplings my grandparents made are the main characters of the new year dishes. My grandparents start making it early in the morning by mixing an abundant amount of dumpling stuffings. When more people arrive at their house, they would help with folding the dumplings. Usually they will have a few unique dumplings with special stuffings. When I was younger, I was told that if someone eat the special stuffing dumpling, they will be lucky for the next year. I always get excited about getting the lucky dumpling, so I will eat more than I needed because I knew that the more I eat the higher possibility I will meet the special dumpling. My grandparents love it when I eat with enjoyment. 

After a few years, I started doubting the saying about whether or not special dumplings really give people a good fortune. Nevertheless, I would still act like I still believe in it faithfully and eat very happily to make my grand parents happy.