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As Christmas is to Westerners, so is the Spring Festival to Chinese.迷你倉 For almost all Chinese, the Spring Festival, or the Chinese Lunar New Year, is the most important time of the year, a time for family reunions and festive foods.It's traditional on Chinese New Year's Eve for the whole family to get together around a round table (called yuan tai mian 圓台面) set with various delicacies."It's the happiest moment of the year as all the family members are back home," says Jiang Hongdi, 60, a retired teacher."And there are so many delicious foods too," Jiang's granddaughter, Zhu Sijun, 7, is quick to add. "I can eat non-stop for the whole seven days (of the Chinese New Year holiday)!"Shanghai, a mixture of many people from across China who have contributed different culinary traditions, has developed its own cuisine and New Year's customs. These exquisite, colorful dishes give Shanghainese great hope for a good year and a better future.Here are some typical cuisines for Shanghainese on New Year's Eve.Longxia pian 龍蝦片Prawn crackersLongxia pian are deep-fried crackers made from starch and flavoring ingredients. In local families, prawn crackers are often fried as a snack for children.Parents buy dehydrated prawn crackers in the supermarket and fry them with low heat in a small pan.Most crackers are made in such shapes as animals or paws. People can add sauce or flavoring to home-made prawn crackers, to taste, which usually are better than store-bought ones.Man xiang 鰻鯗Dried eelFor Chinese people, fish is a must for the reunion dinner as a symbol of prosperity and surplus, indicating that there will be more to come in future years (since the Chinese words for "fish" and "surplus" rhyme). Shanghainese often pick dried eel as their fish dish.Shanghai families prepare the eel a month in advance. They wrap the eel in salt and dry it in the sun. Then they steam the eel without any flavoring or sauce. Sun-dried eel has a sharp and wonderful aroma that piques people's appetite.Sixi kaofu 四喜烤麩Steamed wheat gluten with fungus and mushroomsWheat gluten is a sticky substance that is a mixture of two proteins left when starch is removed from flour, especially wheat flour. Shanghainese mix gluten with black fungus, peanuts and mushrooms in a sweet and sour dish that is nutritionally rich.In Shanghai dialect, wheat gluten is a homophone for kaofu (which means "depending on males"), a traditional wish for the coming year to bring male family members career achievements.Congy文件倉u haizhepi 蔥油海蜇皮Jellyfish with scallion sauceJellyfish is often served at Chinese banquets. Often it is a key part of the appetizer. The round sheet should be cut into strips like noodles and combined with vegetables that have a crunch like cucumbers before being adding a sauce like garlic, vinegar or sesame oil sauce.Most Shanghainese use the bell of the jellyfish, which is more reasonably priced than the jellyfish head, which are the coral-shaped structures below the bell.Dan jiao 蛋餃Egg dumplings stuffed with minced meatEgg dumplings are fried to a golden brown, which signifies good fortune. Handmade egg dumplings, either pan-fried or boiled, look like ancient Chinese gold ingots.Some Shanghai families often hide a coin in one of the hundreds of dumplings — whoever bites into the dumpling with the coin will receive wealth and prosperity in the following year.Tangyuan 湯圓Glutinous rice ballsTangyuan is small ball made from glutinous rice flour, which is mixed with a small amount of water to form balls and is then cooked and served in boiling water.In the past, most local family members made tangyuan together on Chinese New Year's Eve and ate it as their first breakfast on the Lunar New Year's Day, because the round shape stands for the reunion of the family and success for the future.Besides, tangyuan is also traditionally eaten on the Lantern Festival (the 15th of the first month of the lunar calendar).Ba bao fan 八寶飯Eight treasures rice puddingThis is a traditional Chinese New Year pudding, and eight treasures signifies eight kinds of dried fruit and sweets. Shanghainese prefer red bean paste as a stuffing and add ingredients like gingko nut, dates and raisins.Shanghainese don't really buy "eight" different toppings, but the number eight rhymes with the Chinese word fa, which means fortune. This celebrated colorful rice pudding, sweet and sticky, is popular among all ages of Shanghainese.Pidan 皮蛋Preserved eggThis is a duck egg that has been preserved in a mixture of ash, lime, salt, clay and rice for weeks or even months. Because of a strong sulfurous aroma and reports that some preserved eggs have been found with high levels of lead, pidan has declined somewhat in popularity.Pidan taste much like normal eggs. For Shanghainese people, this is a good dish to go with beer and congee. Some Shanghai households cut them up into small chunks and either have them as an accompaniment with plain congee, or cook them together with rice porridge and pork slices.存倉