The type of dumplings traditionally eaten during Chinese New Year is jiaozi. These Chinese dumplings are made by wrapping a filling—often pork, cabbage, chives, shrimp, or other vegetables—in a wheat-flour dough wrapper.
Jiaozi are especially important in northern China, where families commonly prepare them together for the New Year period. Many households eat them around midnight on Chinese New Year’s Eve. Their folded, ingot-like shape resembles yuánbǎo, the gold and silver sycee used as currency in imperial China, so jiaozi symbolize wealth and prosperity.
The dish is much older than the modern holiday customs surrounding it. Tradition credits the physician Zhang Zhongjing, who is said to have made ear-shaped dumplings during the Eastern Han period, around 25–220 CE. Archaeological finds from the Astana Cemetery in Xinjiang show that dumplings existed in China by roughly the fifth to seventh centuries.
Jiaozi are often confused with wontons, but their wrappers, shapes, and typical serving styles differ. Jiaozi are commonly boiled, steamed, or pan-fried and served with a dipping sauce; wontons more often have thinner wrappers and appear in broth. Baozi, by contrast, are usually larger, leavened steamed buns.