7 Chinese New Year snacks to treat your visitors 🎊🎊

It’s very interesting that Chinese like playing with words and symbols, especially homonyms a (words that have same pronunciation but different meanings). Especially when it comes to Chinese New Year, almost every celebratory dish or treat have special symbolic meanings and are linked to their names or their appearances.

There are 7 suggested Chinese new year snacks whose symbolic meaning express a fortuitous blessing. It couldn’t be better to use them to treat your visitors and show your best wishes to them!

1.Pineapple Tarts — Prosperity


Pineapple Tarts are one of the ideal sweet dessert in Chinese new year as the Hokkien pronunciation Ong Lai means prosperity is arriving.

2. Sweet rice cake — A Higher Year


Sweet rice cake called Nian Gao in Chinese, which is a homonym for “higher year”. Thus, Chinese think that eating the sweet rice cakes can help them achieving new heights in the coming year.

3. Bak Kwa — Luck and Wealth


As we all know, red and gold are the most typical colors in Chinese new year, representing prosperity and happiness. Thus, the deep red colour is considered auspicious and symbolises luck and wealth. This is very similar to jerky. These slices of preserved meat called long yoke in Cantonese, which means to have robust fortune.

4. Dried Longans — Fortune and Reunion


The Chinese name of dried longans, Gui Yuan, sounds like 'expensive' and 'round' — which symbolize fortune and reunion in Chinese. So it is a top Chinese New Year snack due to its implied meanings.

5. Red Dates — Wealth and Prosperity


The Mandarin name of red dates is Hong Zao, which means prosperity comes early. Thus, That is why red dates are always eaten on jubilant occasions, such as wedding ceremonies, housewarming parties, and a baby's completion of its first month of life.

6. Sunflower Seeds — Many Sons and Grandsons


Seeds are a popular Chinese New Year snack, as they represent fertility. The Chinese character for seed means Zi--children, so eating sunflower seed, watermelon seeds or pumpkin seeds signify that people can have many sons and grandsons in traditional Chinese culture.

7. Sweets — A Sweet Life


Sweets symbolize bringing a sweet life to next year. They are indispensable snacks for the Chinese New Year. Eating sweets represents sweet occurrences or getting a sweet start in the coming year.

Happy Chinese New Year and Gong Xi Fa Cai 🎊🎊

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