On New Year's Day, the Chinese family will eat a vegetarian dish called jai. Although the various ingredients in jai are root vegetables or fibrous vegetables, many people attribute various superstitious aspects to them:
| * Lotus seed - signify having many male offspring * Ginkgo nut - represents silver ingots * Black moss seaweed - is a homonym for exceeding in wealth * Dried bean curd is another homonym for fulfillment of wealth and happiness * Bamboo shoots - is a term which sounds like "wishing that everything would be well" * Fresh bean curd or tofu is not included as it is white and unlucky for New Year as the color signifies death and misfortune. |
 | Other foods include a whole fish, to represent togetherness and abundance, and a chicken for prosperity. The chicken must be presented with a head, tail and feet to symbolize completeness. Noodles should be uncut, as they represent long life. |
| In south China, the favorite and most typical dishes were nian gao, sweet steamed glutinous rice pudding and zong zi (glutinous rice wrapped up in reed leaves), another popular delicacy. |
