The flavor of homecoming

Wanda Hotels & Resorts’ “Wanda Reunion Feast” is one example. Across its nationwide portfolio, the group offers Spring Festival set menus tailored to local culinary traditions, providing families with alternatives to home cooking.

Wu Song, executive assistant manager of Wanda Vista Beijing, says guest profiles vary dramatically from place to place.

He recalls that when he previously worked in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia autonomous region, the hotel hosted Chinese New Year’s Eve banquets in a grand ballroom. Each table seated 10 guests, and although many were strangers, dozens of tables came together in a lively shared celebration. Performances and prize draws were arranged to create a festive atmosphere, allowing strangers to collectively capture memories of reunion.

Now based in Beijing’s CBD area, Wu notes that the clientele is very different. “Most guests here work nearby. During the Spring Festival, many return to their hometowns. Large extended-family gatherings are rare — most diners come as small family units.

“Guests care about three things,” Wu says. “The cuisine must suit the family, the ingredients must be high-quality, and the dishes must look and taste good. Above all, they want auspicious meaning.”

This year, he introduced two themed Chinese New Year’s Eve menus — Huaiyang and Cantonese cuisines. While distinct in style, they share a defining feature: every dish carries a symbolic blessing.

Familiar dishes are renamed to emphasize meaning, such as braised pork trotters paired with fa cai, or hairlike seaweeds, echoing wishes for prosperity.

“A seafood medley featuring abalone and other ingredients is called ‘All-Encompassing Abundance’, symbolizing a year filled with blessings and smooth progress,” he says.

From smoked pork hanging above a hearth in western Hunan, to steaming soup pots in Fujian, to carefully plated banquets in city restaurants, the form of Spring Festival dinner may change — but its essence remains constant.

The aroma of wood smoke, the rising steam of a simmering pot, the warmth of a shared table — these are the invisible threads that bind families together, year after year, across distance and time.