As with so many Chinese festivals, food plays an important role in the proceedings over the Spring Festival. And delicacies at this time of year vary in different places around China. People living in the mountainous regions of Fujian province eat rice cakes stuffed with meat and bamboo shoots.

Longtou is idyllic- nestled in a national park amidst forests and mountains. Bamboo shoots can be found in the ground everywhere- as long as you know where to look.

People living in the mountainous regions of Fujian province eat rice cakes stuffed with meat and bamboo shoots.

November to February is the best season for digging out these edible sprouts from the ground, and it’s a village tradition here to perform the task in the days running up to the Spring Festival. The product will form the basis of the stuffing for the New Year dumplings.

However, this is no simple process. First soak you must soak a large quantity of rice, then par-boil it. After that the rice is beaten until it forms a large block, and subsequently split into rice-balls. Finally the balls are steamed; they will form the casing for the dumplings.

To prepare the bamboo shoots- first they are peeled and boiled and finally cut into small pieces. They are mixed with mushrooms, meat, green onions and radish, and fried to form the stuffing.

As you can see, this truly is a family activity including everyone. From collecting the ingredients, to decorating them with traditional red paper-cuttings, this is a tradition that lives on.

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