Smaller, costlier dumplings provoke Lantern Festival ire

Despite the long lines outside Chinese snack shops which sell yuanxiao, traditional rice flour dumplings eaten on Lantern Festival, customers are complaining of price hikes and of a drop in quality.　

Outside Jinfang Snack Store at Ciqikou, Dongcheng district on Monday, over 20 people were lining up to buy yuanxiao.

The owner said this year sales are better than last year and the price has increased 2 yuan per 500 grams to 24 yuan ($3.8).

A customer surnamed Fu, a 60-year-old Beijinger, said she feels unhappy that now most shops sell yuanxiao that are made elsewhere. Many customers grumbled about the lack of quality of yuanxiao nowadays, and complained the dumplings were smaller than they used to be.　

"I don't know whether the seller is telling the truth that the yuanxiao are freshly made," she said.

"These yuanxiao are more expensive and so I can only buy a few to eat. I buy fresh ones because they taste better than frozen ones," she said.

Li Xingcun, media officer with Beijing Daoxiangcun, a popular Beijing traditional snack brand, said that now, each of their branches is selling around 250 kilograms of the snack every day.

"We are working long hours to meet the demand. The sales will reach the peak one week before the Lantern Festival," she said. Lantern Festival, the official end of the Spring Festival holiday, falls on Sunday.

"Though the cost, including things like the labor fee has increased, we've only added 2 yuan to the cost of a 500-gram packet of yuanxiao," she said. It costs 18 yuan for a pack of yuanxiao.

Wang Shihua, from China Time-Honored Brands Association, said people are only buying them because of the festival.

"Young people buy them because there are old people in the family and it's a tradition. No one cares about yuanxiao after the festival," she said. She added that you can tell yuanxiao are freshly made if they float on the water when you boil them.