春节美食必备之饺子双语介绍

    饺子源于古代的角子。饺子原名“娇耳”，相传是我国医圣张仲景首先发明的，距今已有一千八百多年的历史了。是深受中国汉族人民喜爱的传统特色食品，又称水饺，是中国北方民间的主食和地方小吃，也是年节食品。有一句民谣叫“大寒小寒，吃饺子过年。”春节美食必备之饺子双语介绍：

    January 1st on the lunar calendar is the Spring Festival in China, a time to say good-bye to the previous year, and usher in the new. The festival begins on December 23rd of the lunar calendar and lasts until January 15th.

    Dec 30th is New Year's Eve, and it is a time when families get together to have dinner. The dishes are rich and people express their wishes through the foods they prepare. First, the dishes prepared should be in even number, never in odd, because odd means difficulties in the coming year. Second, fish and hotpots are two "auspicious foods" to have at the dinner table. Fish is a homophone to the word "surplus" in Chinese. So it is a good omen to leave the bones, head and tail intact, symbolizing a good beginning and end in the coming year. A steaming hot pot means prosperity and growth. Third, people having chicken for dinner is lucky, as the word chicken is a homophone for 'accumulate' in Chinese. , "Nian gao", or "New Year Cake" is a sweet sticky brown cake made of rice flour and sugar. In Chinese, "gao" is a homonym for "high", and "nian" means "year". "Nian gao" is a homonym for "higher each year" and symbolizes improvement in life year by year. Their sweetness symbolizes a rich, sweet life and the round shape signifies family reunion. "Spring rolls" are also popular. They symbolize wealth, because their shape is similar to gold bars. When having spring rolls, people eat the entire roll from one end to the other, symbolizing that everything in the coming year will end in success.

    In Northern China, the most important New Year's food is dumplings. They symbolize the New Year and the old year meeting in the first hour of the day. The shape of a dumpling looks like a gold ingot-money in ancient China, which expresses a wish for a rich year. Sometimes, candies are stuffed inside the dumplings as a wish for a sweet life; and a sanitized coin may be placed in one of the dumplings. Whoever bites the coin will have good fortune in the coming year.