Relationship: Im/migrant

 Our family will have jiaozi(dumpling) in every Spring Festival and winter solstice. During Spring Festival and winter solstice, all the family members will make jiaozi together and make it a few days in advance.  We can choose what kind of stuff to put in it, usually filled with pork. Basically, adults will make all the jiaozi, children like I will have prepare materials for adults. Sometimes I will try to make some jiaozi, but until now, I still don't know how to make jiaozi look good. When we finish making, we will put it in the refrigerator, take it when it’s in festival. This is our family tradition, make it before Spring Festival and winter solstice, then cook on those festivals. I like to eat dumplings and sit with my family. When my parents and I came to the US, our family still eats jiaozi in the Spring Festival and winter solstice, but not to make it, we will buy jiaozi from Chinatown.  

Jiaozi is a very common food in China, people mostly will buy it from the market and cook for meals. And almost every Chinese tradition festival can use jiaozi to celebrate. Jiaozi also often appear in people's daily diets because there are many kinds of jiaozi.

In ancient China, jiaozi appeared as a kind of medicine for curing diseases, then it gradually became a kind of food. Right now, we can cook jiaozi by steam, fry, boil...


Place(s): Nanjing; New York

– Yang Hong

Relationship:  Im/migrant Im/migrant