A reunion dinner (, or ) is held on Chinese New Year's Eve and Chinese New Year, during which family members get together to celebrate. It is often considered the most important get-together meal of the entire year.
The Chinese New Year's Eve and Chinese New Year's reunion dinner is very large and traditionally includes dumplings, chicken, and pork. Fish (éÂÂ, yú; Vietnamese: Con cá) is also included, but intentionally (except for Vietnam) not finished, and the remaining fish is stored overnight. The reason for this stems from a pun, as the Chinese phrase å¹´å¹´æÂÂéÂÂ/é¤Â; (nián nián yÃÂu yú, or "every year there is fish/leftover") is a homophone for phrases which mean "be blessed every year" or "have abundant profit every year". Similarly, a type of black hair-like algae, "fat choy" (é«®èÂÂ, fàcài, literally "hair vegetable" in Chinese), is also featured in many dishes since its name sounds similar to "prosperity"(ç¼財, fàcái). Hakka will serve "kiu nyuk" æ£è and "ngiong tiu fu" éÂÂè±Âè Â. The belief is that having one will lead to the other, as the phrases sound similar to one another.
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