On New Year's Eve night, Chinese families come together for a celebration dinner. This custom is also called "surrounding the hearth" from the ancient custom in earlier times of eating dinner around the family hearth. Both children and adults eat together and dinner begins only after all of the family members are present at the table.

The New Year's Eve dinner is very sumptuous and traditionally includes chicken and fish.

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Fish (Chinese:鱼)—Usually not eaten completely, as the Chinese phrase "may there be surpluses every year" sounds like "may there be fish every year."

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Jiao zi (dumplings) (Chinese:饺子)—Eaten traditionally in northern China because the preparation represents packaging luck inside the dumpling.

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Nian gao (Chinese:年糕)—Most popular in eastern part of China because its pronunciation is a homophone for "a more prosperous year".

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