If You Spend The Night Before Lunar New Year Eating These 3 Things, You’ll Attract Good Luck All Year
Design: YourTango | Photo: D-Keine, Canva Pro 2026 hasn't exactly been off to a great start. Economic struggles have created a scarcity mindset that doesn't quite welcome prosperity. According to self-proclaimed Chinese baddie Sherry, turning your luck around could be as simple as spending the night before the Lunar New Year on February 17 indulging in three specific snacks: dumplings, tuanzi, and fish.
The Lunar New Year celebration is the perfect opportunity to ensure you'll have good luck and prosperity for the year ahead. From how you think to what you eat, abundance isn't something that magically falls into your lap. However, just because it's hard to obtain doesn't mean it's impossible to get. Also, snacks! Anyone who recommends eating the night before a celebration is definitely worth paying attention to.
If you spend the night before Lunar New Year eating these three things, you'll attract good luck all year
1. Dumplings
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If you spend the night before the Lunar New Year eating Chinese dumplings, you'll attract good luck all year, according to creator Sherry.
Now, you might be scratching your head, wondering how eating dumplings could attract good luck, but according to restaurateur and author Annie Shi, a Lunar New Year celebration wouldn't be complete without these delicious treats that are a symbol of prosperity. She told Real Simple, “The shape of a dumpling is reminiscent of the traditional gold ingot [bar] and is supposed to bring you more prosperity in the new year.”
Sherry added, "Because the dumpling's shape is shaped like gold. So, when we eat the gold, we're like, 'Oh, we're consuming the wealth, we're attracting the wealth."
And the best part? They are delicious. Pan-fried or steamed, you won't need to twist my arm to make these little pockets of yumminess part of my Lunar New Year's Eve celebration.
2. Tuanzi
Tuanzi is a regional dish popular in Huarong County, Hunan Province, and in Hubei Province. They are glutinous rice balls, more commonly known as sweet rice balls or tang yuan. Like most traditional holiday dishes, there are regional differences in flavors and preparation, but the importance of these rice balls as part of the Lunar New Year celebration is universal.
As Smithsonian Magazine described them, these "spherical desserts" are an "edible representation of the moon shining overhead." Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan, author of "A Tiger in the Kitchen: A Memoir of Food and Family," told the outlet, "Translating to 'soup ball,' tang yuan signifies togetherness and familial gathering." She went on to say, "The Lunar New Year fixture is linked to the playfully similar-sounding Chinese phrase 'tuan yuan' ('reunion') and accompanying lucky saying 'tuan tuan yuan yuan,' meaning reunion after separation." Tan stressed that eating tang yuan is "believed to project prosperity and good fortune into the new year."
3. Fish
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Finally, if you eat fish, traditionally a whole steamed fish, the night before the Lunar New Year, you'll attract good luck all year. Unlike the dumplings and rice balls whose shapes were representative of good luck, the reason why fish is a symbol of good fortune is slightly more complicated.
According to Food Republic, the words "fish" and "abundance" share the same pronunciation in Mandarin, which is why serving whole fish became a symbol of incoming wealth in the coming year. According to Sherry, "Yu" sounds like the word for fish, and as Food Republic noted, it also means "we have abundance."
That said, none of this will work if someone doesn't have an abundant, positive mindset. So, when preparing for your Lunar New Year's Eve celebration, be sure to hit the grocery store for these dishes and enter the celebration with prosperity and good fortune as your goal. Gong hei fat choy!
Marielisa Reyes is a writer with a bachelor's degree in psychology who covers self-help, relationships, career, and family topics.
