How gift givers are pushing the envelope

There is a knock at the door and another family of smiling visitors arrive. They step across and hand over big bags of fruit, cakes or candy. After exchanging greetings or sharing dinner together, you show them out and just before they leave, the visitors may bring out a red paper envelope. "This is for your kid," they say.

Life Food

Sticking together for good luck and joy

XIAMEN: Almost every traditional Chinese festival is closely associated with food: zongzi for the Dragonboat Festival, mooncakes for the Moon Festival, and niangao (sticky rice cake) for the Chinese New Year.

Hot and spicy makes Hunanese feel at home

GUANGZHOU: Special food, native to Central China's Hunan Province, has attracted crowds of buyers to the Huxiang Food Store in downtown Guangzhou.

What's a beautiful banquet without a long, hearty chat?

SHANGHAI: Nothing like a home-cooked meal. And so it is for the Spring Festival.

Eight dishes the bare minimum

CHANGCHUN: People in Northeast China attach great importance to the Spring Festival Eve dinner. The meal is more luxurious than usual, with at least eight dishes on the table. Families, especially the women, take more than half a day to prepare it.

A nation totally wrapped

Jiaozi is a dumpling and is undoubtedly one of the best-loved Chinese foods for locals and expats alike. It is made with a flat dough wrapping and is stuffed with meat and vegetable and boiled or steamed.

How to make jiaozi

Ingredients (serves 4)

Life People

Famous fish tale

Thanks to the many rivers and lakes scattered around Hangzhou, the locals have developed many famous dishes with fish.

Hooked on a feeling

The lake is covered with a misty blanket and the glassy water surface is barely awakened by the small rowing boats. A few water birds chirp and flutter from the surface to the sky, which is turning bright red in the east.

Life Style