#i remember when i was a kid we would secretly joke about the longevity peaches looking like butts lol

[niteshade925]

Apr 4 evening, China:

In China there is a custom called jiefengxichen/接风洗尘, which roughly translates to "welcome the winds and wash off the dust", and it's a way of welcoming guests from faraway. In old times the host would provide a basin of fresh water and a clean towel for the guest, then provide a small meal. In modern times this is mostly simplified down to a big meal or a trip to the restaurant, called a jiefengfan/接风饭. In our case we just went to a restaurant.

Mixed vegetables with starch noodles and sesame paste (it's a cold dish, an appetizer, kind of like a salad):

Lightly stir-fried octopus:

Stir-fried beef and king oyster mushrooms with cashews. The yellow bowl-shaped decor on the side was apparently fried egg??? I have not the slightest idea how they fried the egg to look like that:

Red braised Chinese yam:

Steamed turbot fish:

Red braised pork belly on rice:

Duck soup with tofu:

Last but not least, a traditional pastry called shoutao/寿桃, or "longevity peaches". These are peach-shaped steamed buns with sweet red bean paste or sweet lotus seed paste fillings. They are made to look like peaches because peaches are associated with longevity in Chinese culture and are usually served at birthday banquets (for older people).

We weren't celebrating anyone's birthday that day, it was just a gift from the restaurant because my relatives were regular customers there. Picture was taken after we started eating so that's why there's only four buns left (four is not a lucky number so the restaurant definitely would not serve just four buns; if I remember right it was eight buns at the start, and eight is a lucky number)