Dumplings are a special Chinese food eaten at Chinese New Year to bring good luck and wealth. Some families even hide a coin in one of the dumplings to give the family member who bites it an especially prosperous year – or an expensive dentist bill.  

Dumplings are a staple of Chinese people’s diet throughout the year. Dumplings come in many shapes and sizes and can be filled with soup, vegetables, meat or fish. Like many iconic NYC foods, dumplings were first brought to the city by immigrants.

Legend says thousands of years ago, a doctor invented dumplings to cure poor villager’s frostbitten ears during an especially cold winter. By offering ear-shaped food filled with nutritious ingredients and medicinal herbs, he helped many undernourished patients make it through the winter.

Want to know some other cool facts about Chinese food?

Chinese people believe that certain foods bring good luck. For example, long noodles stand for a long life and oranges stand for money.

Chopsticks are used for eating in China because knives are considered weapons, and weapons do not belong on the dinner table.

Ice cream was probably invented in China about 4,000 years ago.

Never stick your chopsticks straight up in food such as rice: it means a person at the table will die.

And remember – when you order “fragrant meat” or “field chicken” in a traditional Chinese restaurant, you will be served dog meat and frogs.

China
China is a country in Asia with borders to 20 different countries like India, Russia, Korea, Tibet, Nepal or Afghanistan. It is the country with the world’s biggest population – 1.4 billion people live in China. Many important things have been invented in China like paper and printing, silk, the compass or the wheelbarrow. Together with the U.S. and Russia, China is one of the three most powerful countries in the world.