How long has it been since you had a Chinese New Year's Eve meal with your family? What do you have on Chinese New Year's Eve meals at home?
Recently, ambassadors from Thailand, Moldova and Denmark to China experienced the "New Year" in depth, visiting large fairs, picking New Year goods, drawing blessing characters, pinching rabbit cakes, and ambassadors sat around the table and ate a full Chinese New Year's Eve meal to celebrate the upcoming Chinese New Year.
At the dinner table, several ambassadors started a chat mode to share their unique feelings about the customs of the Chinese Spring Festival.
Ambassador Immersion Experience "Year of China"
"Going home for the New Year" is imprinted in the cultural genes of Chinese, even if you are at the end of the earth, you must hurriedly embark on the journey home. The Spring Festival has also been called "the largest periodic migration of mankind."
The Ambassador to China from Moldova, H.E. Dumitru Braghis couldn't help but lament the sheer scale of the Spring Festival:
When the Spring Festival arrives, Chinese usually go home for the New Year and visit relatives and friends. We visit our families on similar holidays, but Moldova is so small that we don't have to drive home for hours or even days. In almost two hours, you'll be on the border with Moldova.
During Spring Festival, Chinese usually are going home, visiting their relatives. We also visit respective families during this time. Moldova is much smaller. We don't have to drive hours or days to go back home. Nothing like that, it's much like in two hours, you'll find the border of the Republic of Moldova.
In Thailand, there is also a festival similar to the Chinese Spring Festival - Songkran Festival, also called Songkran. According to the Thai Ambassador to China, Attayu Xisam. Arthayudh Srisamoot) introduced:
Chinese traditions are very similar to Thai traditions, and every April, we celebrate the Thai New Year, or Songkran. If you watch TV, you'll see people splashing water on each other, but it's actually the traditional Thai New Year.
Chinese tradition and Thai tradition are quite similar. Every year in April, we have what we call the Thai New Year or Water Festival. If you look at the TV, people throw water at you, but actually it's the traditional Thai New Year.
The Thai ambassador also bluntly said that he wanted to travel in China during the Spring Festival, but he had not yet decided where to go, although Hainan is a popular destination, but it is a bit similar to his hometown of Thailand, so everyone recommended him to spend the winter in the ice and snow city of Harbin...
New Year goods are a must for the Spring Festival in Chinese, and Dorthe Lange, deputy director of the Royal Danish Embassy in China, also took the opportunity to bring goods for the specialties of her hometown. She said Denmark is famous not only for cookies, but also for pork, beer and butter.
So, what's on this special Chinese New Year's Eve meal?
Buddha jumps off the wall
"Buddha jumps over the wall"
This dish originated in Fujian, and legend has it that people cooked this dish under the temple, and the aroma caused the monks to jump over the wall to taste the dish.
Buddha Jumps over the Wall is one of the most typical cuisines in Fujian. It is made of 18 pricey ingredients, including shark fish, abalone, sea cucumber, ginseng and scallops. All these are simmered together for long hours over slow fire, ensuring the essence has been extracted.
Thai black tiger shrimp
Thai black tiger prawns
The dish "Thai Black Tiger Prawn" uses millet spicy and lemongrass, and the spices are all from Thailand.
The dish is called Thailand's black tiger prawn, using capsicum frutescens, citronella, spices from Thailand.
Thai food is rich in seasonings, and the Thai ambassador to China recommends that you choose authentic pre-made products such as curry and tom yum gong to easily cook Thai food at home during the New Year.
Wufu bag
"Five good fortunes" buns
The Wufu bun uses Danish luncheon meat, which is a symbol of beauty, which is in line with the 5 blessings we pray for the New Year.
Wufu symbolizes the pray of five blessings of Chinese New Year.
What are the Five Beatitudes? "Shangshu Hongfan" clearly recorded: "One is life, two is wealth, three is Kanning, four is good morality, and five is the end of life." ”
This "Ambassador Chinese New Year's Eve Rice" table features ingredients of origin from all over the world, and is helmed by Jingdong Seven Fresh Food R&D chef, presenting more than 20 fusion dishes combined with Chinese cuisine.
Thanks to the development of global supply chain, cold chain logistics and e-commerce, more and more overseas fresh food has become a constant companion delicacy in reunion moments. This made Ms. Dou Wen sigh: "The global goods that Chinese consumers can buy online are so rich!" ”
And this is also a microcosm of the table of the Chinese people today.
The import and export data for 2022 just released by the General Administration of Customs shows that mainland agricultural imports last year were 1.57 trillion yuan, an increase of 10.8%, of which more and more novel "imported products" also appeared in the Spring Festival shopping carts of Chinese consumers. During the Jingdong New Year Festival, the turnover of black tiger shrimp in Thailand nearly doubled year-on-year, Argentine beef increased by nearly 4 times, and Chilean cherries and king crab continued to sell hotly. The highly nutritious sashimi-grade Greenland Arctic sweet shrimp was salvaged from the extremely cold deep sea and sent directly to China after processing, packaging and freezing procedures on board, becoming the fastest growing frozen marine product this year, with a turnover of 6 times that of the same period last year, while the turnover of cross-border live Boston lobster increased by more than 10 times month-on-month.
In recent years, JD.com has developed diversified business models based on different overseas commodities and category attributes, and worked with partners to explore cost and efficiency optimization, so that global good things can be reached at more realistic prices and high-quality services. At present, JD.com has launched nearly 100 national pavilions through extensive cooperation with governments, business associations and other official institutions. With the JD.com National Pavilion as a window, Chinese consumers can not only enjoy the best products from various countries, but also appreciate the human geography stories behind the products, and experience the multicultural value in the online shopping process.
In the field of cross-border e-commerce, JD.com can enable consumers to buy goods of origin most quickly and affordably, with its global cross-border supply chain integration capabilities and the cost advantage of the import bonded model. Boston lobster can now be caught in North America and delivered to Chinese consumers in as little as 17 hours.
This year, JD.com will "also deliver during the Spring Festival" for 11 consecutive years, and consumers in 366 cities and about 1,700 districts and counties across the country can place orders and receive goods normally even on the Chinese New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.
Source: China Daily