The Spring Festival, also known as Chinese New Year, is the most important holiday in China. It marks the beginning of a new year according to the lunar calendar. No matter how far away people are from their homes, they will travel home for family reunions during the Spring Festival.

A lot of care and thought is put into the dishes eaten during the festival. However, cooking methods and dishes vary a lot between different regions.

Here are some of traditional delicacies in Hubei Province during the Spring Festival, each with positive connotations.

1.Wuchang fish

Wuchang Fish is a representative species of fish from Ezhou, Hubei. Wuchang fish belongs to the bream fish, also named as megalobrama amblycephala. Wuchang fish has tender meat and delicious flavor, rich in protein and fat. It is seen as a precious dish of freshwater fish. The Chinese word for fish (鱼) is a homonym for surplus (余), so fish symbolizes an increase or surplus in wealth and prosperity.

2.Fish cake

Fish cake is a necessary dish of the family reunion dinner. Hubei is full of rivers and lakes. It is one of the largest freshwater fish producing areas. When making fish cake, the fish should be peeled and boned, only meat left. In Chinese, the fish cake is pronounced as “Yugao”, standing for “to be rich year after year, and to be promoted to a higher position”.

3.Fried meat ball

Fried meat ball is a classical dish in Hubei. Local people in chop the pork into mince, and knead the mince into small ball. Then they fry the small ball and eat immediately. The name of the small meat ball “yuan zi” or “rou yuan” means “reunion” in Chinese.

4. Cured meat

The cured meat is often regaled by Hubei people, like the cured sausage, cured fish and cured meat. Many families begin to make cured meat during the Winter Solstice Festival. The Tujia spicy sausage, Shennongjia sausage and Yichang salty and spicy sausage are representative ones. The cured sausages of local regions all have their own flavors.

（en.hubei.gov.cn by Liu Ximeng and Zhang Yawei）