What to eat during the Spring Festival in old Beijing

　　Beijing folk song: "Tanggua is used to sacrifice the stove, and the New Year is coming." The first food that enters the festival is Tanggua, Guandong sugar and other snacks used to "sacrifice the stove". They are made of colloidal maltose. They are sweet and slightly sour. In the era when life was not so rich, this was an excellent delicacy. Moreover, the presence of Tanggua and Guandong sugar at home indicates that the Spring Festival is not far away. Of course, the "Kitchen Lord" does not eat the fireworks of the world. This kind of "bribery" in the hope that the "Kitchen Lord" will "say good things to God and ensure peace in the lower world" has naturally become a favorite among children.

　　Old Beijingers pay special attention to "Celebrating the New Year", so they have this saying: "Honey, don't be greedy, it's the New Year after Laba Festival. Drink Laba porridge for a few days. Twenty-three, twenty-three, Tanggua Guan, twenty-four, Clean the house, twenty-five, fry tofu, twenty-six, stew mutton, twenty-seven, kill the rooster, twenty-eight, make the noodles, twenty-nine, steam the buns, stay up all night on the thirtieth, twist and turn on New Year's Day..." the folk song. Laba porridge, fried tofu, stewed mutton, etc. listed in the folk song are all delicacies of old Beijing during the Spring Festival. Today, these are commonplace meals, but in the 1950s and 1960s, they could only be enjoyed during the Chinese New Year.

　　There are only the above types of food during the Spring Festival, which is certainly not rich. Pastries such as Mi Gong and Saqima, which were used to worship gods and ancestors in ancient times, are not only foods of Manchu and Mongolian ethnic minorities in Beijing, but also must-have foods for Beijing residents. Some well-off Beijingers still had the custom of eating fish on New Year's Eve. The fish must be carp. It was originally used as a sacrifice to the gods, but later it was associated with the auspicious saying of "good luck and good fortune". Fish is both a delicacy and an offering.

　　As for the dumplings on New Year's Eve, the dumplings with vegetarian fillings are used to worship the gods, and the dumplings that everyone eats are filled with meat; those who are not well-off will use a mixture of meat and vegetables as fillings. Even the poorest families have many "procedures" to eat dumplings during the Chinese New Year. In addition to the well-known delicacies such as dumplings and rice cakes, people in "old Beijing" also make "douerjiang" - a cold dish made of pork skin, dried tofu, soybeans, green beans, water mustard, etc. It is amber in color and similar to "aspic". There is also "mustard dumpling", which is a cold dish used to accompany wine and appetizers. People eat a lot of greasy food during festivals, which tends to cause fire and phlegm. These cold dishes can make up for this shortcoming.

　　When all kinds of meat and vegetable dishes are prepared, Beijingers also prepare candies, dried fruits, melon seeds and "mixed fruits". The so-called "mixed fruits" are today's assorted preserved fruits. In those days, these snacks were delicacies for people to sit around the fire and bid farewell to the New Year.

　　Today, almost all the offerings and traditional foods in the name of worshiping ancestors and gods have been preserved, but they are not so eye-catching. As for today's Spring Festival, the dining table can only be summed up by the word "abundant". Sichuan and Shandong cuisine and fresh seafood will appear on ordinary people's New Year's Eve dining tables. People who believe in the "new style" will go to big restaurants to have a "meal" to welcome the New Year!