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Mandarin oranges, sweets, tarts, melon seeds and cookies are the commonly seen fruits and food during the Chinese New Year celebrations. These are the food served when relatives and friends pay each other a visit.

There is a round or hexagonal or octagonal tray with six or eight individual compartments being used to store sweets, melon seeds and so on. This item is called the “Tray of Togetherness“. The number six symbolises luck and the number eight symbolises fortune. 

Tray of Togetherness (Tray Cover) :

Why is the tray called “Tray of Togetherness”? Well, Chinese New Year is a time for the family to get together and the tray of togetherness actually represents the family gatherings.

Tray of Togetherness (6 Compartments) :

From the picture above, you can see that there are altogether 6 compartments within the tray. Each compartment is filled with a treat and each with its own meaning.

The melon seeds represent wealth and the lotus-root seeds represent fertility. As for the sweets, they represent a sweet new year.

Pineapple Tarts :

 

Kueh Bangit (Cookies) :

 

Mandarin Oranges with Hong Bao (Red Packet) :

By the way, most of these are heaty food. A piece of advice is to drink more water after eating the cookies, love letters, pineapple tarts and so on. The best is to drink more herbal tea to prevent getting sore throat or other illnesses.

Let us stay healthy and energetic to celebrate the Chinese New Year. Gong Xi Fa Cai!!