A Nantong native tends to homemade sausage being air-dried in a courtyard. [Photo/Nantong Daily]

Spring Festival is a very important Chinese festival, and Chinese people prepare various foods to celebrate it.

So what do people in Nantong usually prepare for the festival?

Nantong folk custom expert Wang Yuming said that Spring Festival food preparations in the city begin with air-dried chicken, fish, preserved meat, and homemade sausage, progress to steamed buns and rice cakes, and end with a New Year's Eve dinner.

Homemade sausage in Nantong, of which Rugao homemade sausage is the most renowned, has a salty taste with a hint of wine. The sausage can be eaten directly after being steamed or stir fried with other vegetables.

Workers in a Nantong store are busy making rice cakes. [Photo/Nantong Daily]

Steaming buns and rice cakes is the most important step in preparations for the Spring Festival in Nantong. Eating steamed buns and rice cakes are believed to lead to a good year.

In the old days, Nantong natives started preparing to steam buns and rice cakes at the beginning of the 12th month of the lunar year, including air drying glutinous rice and grinding flour.

Nowadays, locals just buy these foods from stores instead of making them by hand.

New Year's Eve dinner in Nantong usually consists of dishes made of homemade sausage, preserved meat, air-dried chicken, fish, and seafood, as well as stewed pig's feet with soybean and stir-fried shredded chicken.

However, the most important thing about New Year's Eve dinner is not the food itself, but rather the jovial experience of preparing the food with family.