Tuan Yuan Fan

Chinese New Year celebration involves wearing new dresses, Lion Dance, giving & receiving Ang Pows (red packets with money inside) and burning of firecrackers among others. However, more importantly prior to the celebrations, the Chinese community religiously observe a significant event called the Reunion Dinner, a tradition that has been preserved for centuries.

Traditionally, Chinese families would gather for a feast one day before the start of the Lunar New Year. This meal is known as "tuan yuan fan" (团 圆 饭) , or literally "Reunion Rice", rice being the main staple of the Chinese. It is also translated as "Reunion Meal" or "Reunion Dinner", since it is almost always eaten after nightfall as the last meal of the old year.

This is one of the most important meals for us Chinese, and many Chinese living away from their homes would make special effort to attend this meal with their families, as we Chinese place a lot of emphasis on being reunited with our family members especially for this day. The reunion dinner should be eaten with all immediate family members present as a symbol of strength and unity in the family. Some Chinese make it a point to eat this meal with their in-laws and extended family members. This is a time to renew and reaffirm family ties. That's why my children and I will travel up to PJ to be with hubby and in-law every year for the reunion dinner.

In the past, the venue of a reunion dinner was usually at the home of the most senior member of the family. As people become more affluent, it has become a fashion to eat a reunion dinner in restaurants to save time in preparing the big meal. Because of this, many Chinese restaurants are fully booked during this day. Some popular restaurants even have a timetable which customers have to strictly adhere to: 6pm-8pm for one batch of customers, 8pm-10pm for the second batch, and 10pm-midnight for the third batch.

Preparations for the reunion dinners is a careful process of selecting items to be cooked as some dishes have symbolic meanings or name that sounds like Chinese characters for fortune, happiness, longevity and prosperity. There is usually an abundance of food prepared for this meal. Some traditional food or meals that would be prepared are:

Fish (in Chinese called yú) is included, but not eaten completely (and the remainder is stored overnight), as the Chinese phrase "may there be surpluses every year" (nián nián yǒu yú) sounds the same, as "be blessed every year" or "have profit every year".

Another reason for fish being a commonly served dish during reunion dinner is that fish would normally swim in pairs and because of that the Chinese believe that it represents marital bliss.

Raw fish salad, or "yu sheng" (鱼 生), may be consumed. This dish is not found in China, but in Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong. Its name sounds like "growing luck". This dish is also eaten on the 7th day of the Lunar New Year.

Chicken, pork and ducks are also other favourite dishes during the reunion dinner as it symbolises a proper beginning and ending of the year. So in any circumstances, the chicken and duck would be served together with their head and feet.
Similarly, a type of black hair-like algae, "fat choy" (fǎ cài, literally "hair vegetable" in Cantonese), is also featured in many dishes since its name sounds similar to "prosperity" (fā cái).

Among others, a dish of dried oyster with black moss hair (Hoe See Fatt Choy) would mean wealth and good business; lotus roots (Lin Ngau) would mean abundance year after year and lettuce (Sang Choi) which sounds like growing wealth and riches in Chinese.

Steamboat dinner, or "huo guo" (火 锅) is popular in Singapore and Malaysia. A family sits around a pot of steaming soup, place uncooked pieces of food into it and fish it out when it's ready. This is an easily prepared dinner, since all is needed is to prepare the uncooked food and the soup.

Every household would also keep their tables topped up with sweet and savoury specialties so they can welcome family and friends with a choice of festive treats.

Some of these sweet and savoury specialties or delights include the Chinese New Year Cake (nian gao), love letters, mandarin oranges and many others. An octagonal tray which contains an assortment of auspicious treats are traditionally used to serve guests and among the more popular treats seen in the tray are sweetened lotus roots (symbolising abundance), sweetened lotus seeds (suggesting fertility), dried melon seeds (symbolising profuse earnings), and all kinds of candies, which are a source of long-term sweetness.

"Nian gao" (年 糕), also known as year cakes, may be fried to usher in the New Year. This is a sweet and sticky glutinous cake, which we Chinese believe would make the New Year sweet. It was said that whoever ate the nian gao will be able to attain higher status or a better life in the New Year.

Mandarin oranges are the other favourite offering among us Chinese after the reunion dinner or as gifts when visiting our relatives and friends because mandarin oranges are a symbol of wealth and good fortune.

Another reason is that the fruit is known in Chinese as ‘kam' or literally ‘gold' in English. As a result, we  believed that the more ‘kam' you eat or have during the Chinese New Year season, the more ‘gold' you would have.

A kind of preserved meat, called "rou gan" or dried meat, is also popular during this season.

The Chinese New Year is the longest and most important festivity in the Chinese Lunar Calendar. The tradition is a great way to reconcile, forget all grudges, and sincerely wish peace and happiness for everyone.

‘Gong Xi Fa Cai and Xin Nien Kuai Le, everyone'

p/s - There's no pictures of the before and during because my hands were strangely very busy... and the aftermath is just too embarrassing to be posted here :P