Flower buns bring families together during Chinese Spring Festival

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Spring Festival is often the busiest time for Lu Huiling, inheritor of the Intangible Cultural Heritage called "Shaanxi flower buns."

Flower buns, or ritual buns, is one of the special New Year goods in Shaanxi Province, and has a history of more than 200 years. In the beginning, it was merely a substitute for dessert. As the steamed buns looked too simple, people racked their brains to make them more beautiful and delicate.

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Nowadays, no matter how expensive the presents are, the locals always bring flower buns when visiting each other. The buns that have no stuffing are like the symbol of sincerity.

Lu is now 76 years old. She began to make flower buns at about 13. Starting from her grandmother, the skill has been passed down for four generations. Lu makes buns with her family for the reunion dinner every Spring Festival.

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Lu Huiling (in red) is making the flower buns with her family. /By CGTN

"We didn't have flour in the past, and we were short on food, so we used mud to make all kinds of flower buns and dried them under the sun." says Lu. "After 1960, the situation got better. We began to use flour to make pastries."

When her mother steamed the buns, Lu learned, and gradually became skilled at it.

There are various traditional buns for different occasions. Red date cake means "getting rich soon," while round buns symbolizes reunion. There are lucky animals for festivals, auspicious characters for weddings, and peaches for birthdays of the elderly. Young people prefer the shapes of piglets, rabbits, hedgehogs and roses, etc.

Colorful flower buns. /Photo Courtesy of VCG

There are a lot of techniques to make the perfect flower buns: "The dough should be neither sticky nor cracking. Start steaming when the water temperature is about 70 degrees. And don't steam the small ones for more than 2 minutes." The shape is also important: "We use scissors to make feet, hands and mouths. The comb is used for the patterns. The eyes are made of beans."

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The charm of the flower buns is more than stylistic beauty. For Lu, making buns is the best way for coming together: "Before the Spring Festival, every household would make flower buns. The neighbors would help each other out. It's such harmony."

The youngsters would also join their parents to make flower buns. "The birds fly into the sky. Mama would be healthy." Every single bun represents a good wish from the family members.

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"The Spring Festival is joyful. Everyone is happy. When I make the flower buns, I don't feel tired or sleepy anymore." says Lu.

For ingenuity, for good health, for harmony and happiness… The flower buns carry all kinds of good wishes. The taste of the Chinese New Year has already been implanted in these tasty little buns.

The story is one in The 1.3 Billion series exploring the diverse lives that make up China.