Xiâolóngbāo (小籠包)

There is only one holiday associated with Xiao long man tou, the Chinese New Year, which is a national holiday. Every year on the first day of the Chinese New Year all of China eats dumplings, including Xiao long man tou. Dumplings are the chosen food because they are a universal symbol of prosperity and well-being because flour products used to be reserved to only the wealthiest people. Thus eating copious amounts of them on New Years symbolizes well-being for the coming year.

The most notable ritual is a regional dumpling feast in the lower Yangtze region, in the ancient city of Xi’an. These feasts are to commemorate and appreciate the province of Shaanxi’s food source –dumplings.