Reunion dinner

 

[wenhua.eco.gov.cn]

A reunion dinner is held on Chinese New Year's Eve, during which family members get together to celebrate. No matter where people live, they are expected to return home for the festival, and this dinner.

It is a huge feast, where many fantastic dishes are prepared including chicken, pork, dumplings and many special desserts.

Fish is also included, but intentionally not finished, and the remaining fish is stored overnight. Because the Chinese word for fish sounds the same as the word for abundance and by saving it for the New Year, it is believed that the New Year will be filled with abundance. A famous Chinese phrase "every year there is fish/leftover" is a homophone for phrases which mean "be blessed every year" or "have profit every year".