Tangyuan and Yuanxiao are the must-have snacks during the Lantern Festival, celebrated on the 15th day of the first lunar month. They are both round sticky dumplings with fillings, but there are also distinct differences, with Yuanxiao more popular in northern China and Tangyuan in the south.
Cooks use rolling pins to prepare black sesame seed as filling for Yuanxiao. (Photo: China News Service/Liu Xin)
The black sesame seed filling is cut into small pieces. (Photo: China News Service/Liu Xin)
A cook prepares Yuanxiao with black sesame seed as a filling. (Photo: China News Service/Liu Xin)
Glutinous rice flour is used to make Yuanxiao with a black sesame seed filling. (Photo: China News Service/Liu Xin)
Glutinous rice flour is used to make Yuanxiao with a black sesame seed filling. (Photo: China News Service/Liu Xin)
Glutinous rice flour is used to make Yuanxiao with a black sesame seed filling. (Photo/CFP)
Unlike Yuanxiao, which is made by a process of rolling a hard stuffing in glutinous rice flour, Tangyuan is prepared by placing the filling inside a rice flour wrapping, similar to how jiaozi are prepared. (Photo/CFP)
For both Yuanxiao and Tangyuan, black sesame seed is often a favored filling. (Photo: China News Service/Zhang Chang)
Cooks make Tangyuan with black sesame seed as a stuffing. (Photo: China News Service/Zhang Chang)
A cook boils Tangyuan at a restaurant. (Photo: China News Service/Zhang Chang)
Tangyuan and Yuanxiao are must-have delicious glutinous rice balls, shared between family, friends and lovers. (Photo: China News Service/Zhou Yi)
