"Chinese New Year's Eve Foods"
Second, the New Year's Eve feast includes a wide variety of delicious foods and drinks. After working hard all year, people can finally relax with their families and enjoy life. In some regions, it is traditional to drink a special kind of liquor, tushu jiu, steeped with herbs, which is said to provide protection against disease in the coming year.
Third, the food served at the New Year's Eve feast has rich symbolic meaning. The dishes definitely include fish and chicken, because their Chinese names are homonyms for "abundance" and "good luck." In Taiwan, it is traditional to eat fish spheres like meatballs, but made out of fish, whose round shape symbolizes the family circle and family reunions. The name for Chinese leek is a homonym for "a long time", so dishes made with Chinese leeks are eaten to symbolize long life. Turnips are another popular New Year's dish, because their name in Fujian dialect is a homonym for "good omen."
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