Regional holiday rituals leave lasting memories

Qu Dajun, a famous scholar of the late Ming (1368-1644) and early Qing (1644-1911) dynasties once wrote that before Spring Festival, or Chinese New Year, "the sound of families in Guangzhou making cakes and pounding clothes is alike, and it rings out clearly in the air''.

This traditional scene, once common across Guangdong province, remains today in the Liwan district of Guangzhou where Xie Yingchun and her family continue to honor a culinary ritual that stretches back generations.

As a child, Xie would join her mother and grandmother to prepare a medley of Chinese New Year snacks — oil dumplings, fried cakes and sugar rings. The kitchen, a hive of activity, was filled with laughter and chatter, creating a vibrant, communal atmosphere. "Back then, whenever someone in the family made holiday snacks, everyone would pitch in to help," Xie recalls.

Now 52, Xie is passing the tradition down to her children, particularly her eldest daughter. Each year, after performing a sacrificial ritual to the zao shen (kitchen god) at the stove in the 12th month of the Chinese calendar, the family begins the labor-intensive task of frying oil dumplings shaped like gold ingots.

As the oil sizzles, they chant auspicious phrases — "Oil dumplings bending, family wealth in abundance" and "Fried cakes rolling, gold and silver filling the house" — hoping to usher in prosperity and good fortune for the upcoming year.

Yet, this once-ubiquitous tradition is slowly fading. Many in Guangzhou no longer prepare these iconic holiday treats at home. Xie has run a popular cake shop chain in Liwan for more than two decades and every December it begins preparations for Spring Festival. Ensuring that neighbors and customers can experience the familiar seasonal tastes is her mission.

Crafting Xiguan gift cakes, a signature delicacy in the region, requires precision. Using flour, lard and syrup, the dough is painstakingly shaped, filled and baked — an intricate process passed down through generations. As an inheritor of this intangible cultural heritage, Xie began learning the art from her grandmother before she was 7, a legacy she continues to uphold.

In the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, gift cakes are an essential part of celebratory customs, given to friends and family during holidays, weddings and birthdays. The Xiguan variety, famous for its craftsmanship and distinct flavor, is especially prized.