Taste of winter in Xinghua city – Niangao

As the New Year draws ever closer, pastry shops in Xinghua – a county-level city administered by Taizhou city, in East China's Jiangsu province – have been very busy making the local-style niangao, a glutinous rice cake that is always popular during the Chinese New Year.

In Chinese, niangao is a homonym of the phrase "higher every year" – signifying the wish to increase your prosperity.

With New Year approaching, staff at a traditional snacks shop in Xinghua are busy making local-style niangao, a steamed glutinous rice cake eaten during the festivities. [Photo/WeChat ID: tztour]

Staff get busy making niangao. [Photo/WeChat ID: tztour]

The faces of the workers beam with smiles as they make traditional rice cakes. [Photo/WeChat ID: tztour]