Customs of New Year's Eve Dinner varies in different parts of the country. People in the north eat Jiao Zi (a kind of dumpling), while folks in the south prefer Mi Tuan Zi (a kind of rice dumpling) and water rice puddings. It is popular to taste fried or poached Yuan Xiao (a kind of smaller rice dumpling) in Jiangsu Province, Zhejiang Province, Fujian Province and Guangdong Province on the first day of Chinese New Year. On that day, Zhangzhou folks in Fujian Province traditionally have raw garlic and preserved duck eggs for breakfast, and Chaozhou people in Guangdong Province eat fermented dumplings, a local specialty. While noodle and stewed beef are the first day food of the New Year for the Hui ethnic minority, Jiao zi is for the second day.

Hun Tun (a kind of dumpling) means the beginning of the universe. The creation of the World by Pan Gu is one of the most well-known legends in China. At that moment, what was light and clean rose up and gradually dispersed, thus turning into heaven; what was heavy and turbid descended and became earth, putting an end to the compounding state and creating the four directions of the universe. Hun Tun also literally means sufficient storage of rice.

Accordingly, Hun Tun has its ancient origin, but not Jiao Zi. However, Hun Tun was made into crescent shape and turned into Jiao Zi later on. By the Tang Dynasty, the custom of eating Jiao Zi had spread even to remote frontiers of the country. Jiao Zi has universally been served at twelve o'clock on the New Year's Eve. The character Zi stands for the time of the upcoming of a brand-new period.

The Song Dynasty saw the popularity of preparation for Nian Gao (rice pudding), which thrived in the Ming Dynasty. The two characters Nian Gao literally conveys an exalting message of “rise in position every year.

The old custom of eating black rice in the fourth month of Chinese lunar calendar remains unchanged in Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Hubei, Hu'nan, Jiangxi and Anhui Provinces. It is also served in the Tomb-Sweeping Day, and more people have the rice on the eighth day of the fourth month.

The black rice originates from several legends. Legend had it in Hangzhou that Sun Bin, an intelligent general during the Warring States Period, was framed by the jealous Pang Juan. Caged in a pigsty, he survived by eating black rice balls, which resembled pig's shit and were prepared by an old jail guard using black tree leaves. Having eschewed supervision by Pang Juan's henchmen, Sun Bin became even stronger, thanks to the black rice balls. He escaped eventually and took the revenge. The first day when Sun Bin ate the black rice happened to be the first day of Chinese lunar summer season, so it has become a tradition that black rice is served on that day in Hangzhou.

According to historical records, such a custom first appeared in the Tang Dynasty, and the preparations for that vary in different periods. In the Tang Dynasty, Nan Zu leaves were crushed. Then rice was soaked in the leaf fluid, stewed and exposed to the sun. The preparation developed into a more complicated way in the Song Dynasty. White rice and water were used with Nan Zu leaves' fluid. The mixture had to be kept cold first to soften the rice before being cooked……

As a matter of fact, the black rice is a kind of purple black glutinous rice, poached in the soup of wild Chinese tallow tree leaves. The rice is soaked in the soup for half a day before being taken to a wooden steamer for steaming.