Festival Carnival

Chinese New Year

Like everyone else, the Chinese celebrate their new year with lots of special food. They have:

nian gao

Different types of nian gao, with different colors and shapes.

This is a nian gao in the shape of a fish. Fish in cantonese is yu, it has a similar sound as the word meaning "surplus". The Chinese hope that they will always have surplus food for the rest of the year, after eating the nian gao.

The nian gao is a special kind of sticky cake. It is usually sweet, although there are some exeptions, such as the Shanghai kind of nian gao, which doesn't have any flavour at all.


• Steps to fry the nian gao:



1. Cut the nian gao into small pieces. 2. Dip it into an egg mixture. 3. Put them into a pan and fry them until both sides are golden brown. You don't even have to add any oil!

Cut the nian gao

white sesame seed balls

White sesame seed balls are balls covered in sesame. It is hollow inside and therefore it can get squashed easily. These balls are made of glutinous rice flour and are quite popular in southern China.

mandarin

The mandarin is thought to bring good luck for the coming year.

and lots more other snacks and sweets

There is a pretty, circular box which holds all the candies and snacks. It is always used during the Chinese New Year.

Apart from eating tons of food, the family always has a gathering and the children are given some pocket money in small, red envelopes, otherwise known as red packets.

Festival Carnival

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