Spring Festival fare you'll find on Shanghai tables

Egg dumpling soup

4. Soup: Few people would have space left to stomach any more food by the time the soup is served, which is usually between 8 and 9 pm. However, everyone will nevertheless oblige with a bowl as this is seen as a form of "borrowing good luck". Egg dumplings (mini omelettes stuffed with minced meat and shaped like gold ingots) can be found in the soup and they are sup-posed to mean good luck and for-tune. The soup will at times also include meat, fish, mushroom balls (to represent family solidarity) and vermicelli (longevity).