Family is the basis of the Chinese society, which is seen through the significance placed on the New Year’s Eve dinner (年夜饭- Nián yèfàn) or Reunion dinner (团年饭 - tuán niánfàn). This feast is extremely important to the Chinese. All family members must come back. Even if they truly can’t, the rest of the family will leave their spot empty and place a spare set of utensils for them.
Food is one of the things that the Chinese take the most pride in. And of course, lot of care and thought is put into the menu for the most important holiday of the year.
As with Chinese New Year activities and decorations, the dishes are created to give blessings for the next year. Both the names and looks are symbols of wishes for prosperity, happiness and auspiciousness.
