Qingdao Explained: Beaches, Beer, and the German Footprint on a Chinese Coastal City
Qingdao is often sold in three easy images: sea breeze, cold beer, and red-roofed streets that look a little bit European. For first-time visitors, that
Chinese New Year is nearly here: New Year’s Eve falls on 16 Feb 2026, and Spring Festival begins on 17 Feb. In Perth, that often means a relaxed get-together after dinner — chatting, watching TV, visiting friends, and grazing on snacks that feel unmistakably “New Year”.
Three favourites show up again and again: nian gao (年糕), tangyuan (汤圆) and sunflower seeds (瓜子).
This Learn Chinese Perth guide explains what they are, why they matter — and, most importantly for learners, how to describe flavour (味道) and texture (口感) in natural Mandarin.
Spring Festival food usually carries two layers at once:
Useful Mandarin you’ll hear:
A simple, Perth-friendly line for a gathering:
我带了年糕，图个“年年高”。
I brought nian gao — for the “higher every year” wish.
年糕 (nián gāo) is made from glutinous rice. For learners, it’s a perfect food to practise texture words because it has a very distinct mouthfeel:
Common styles you’ll see in Perth Asian grocers:
Because 糕 (gāo) sounds like 高 (gāo) (“high”), nian gao becomes an easy, powerful blessing:
You can explain it to non-Chinese friends like this:
Nian gao sounds like ‘year by year higher’, so it symbolises progress and improvement.
Perth learner tip: 甜而不腻 (“sweet but not cloying”) is one of the most common compliments for desserts.
汤圆 (tāngyuán) are glutinous rice balls with filling, served in hot liquid. They’re strongly associated with the Lantern Festival too, but many families also eat them during the Spring Festival period — especially when everyone is together.
Common fillings:
Key words:
A natural sentence that fits Spring Festival in Perth:
过年吃汤圆，感觉更有团圆的味道。
Eating tangyuan at New Year makes it feel more like a reunion.
Tangyuan is a great “texture vocabulary” snack because small cooking differences change everything:
Try these:
瓜子 (guāzi) are Spring Festival table culture in one word: slow, social, and addictive. In many families, they’re the soundtrack of conversation.
Typical descriptions:
Common flavours:
In Mandarin you don’t usually “eat” seeds — you crack them:
Useful lines at a Perth gathering:
Examples:
English often uses one casual “taste” to cover everything. Mandarin usually separates flavour and mouthfeel.
High-frequency words:
High-frequency words:
A simple learner rule:
味道 = what your tongue/nose tastes. 口感 = what your mouth/teeth feel.
| Snack | Flavour words (味道) | Texture words (口感) | Symbolic meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 年糕 nian gao | 甜、香、甜而不腻 | 糯、黏、有嚼劲、外脆内糯 | 年年高 (better every year) |
| 汤圆 tangyuan | 甜、香 (芝麻/花生) | 软、糯、滑、Q弹、爆浆 | 团圆、圆圆满满 (reunion/wholeness) |
| 瓜子 guazi | 香、咸、五香 | 脆、干 | social table snack vibe |
One of the easiest ways to make Mandarin stick is to tie it to real life in Perth: buying New Year snacks at an Asian supermarket, describing them at a friend’s place, or doing a short show-and-tell in class.
When you can talk about 味道 (flavour) and 口感 (texture), you’re no longer just memorising vocabulary — you’re expressing preference, culture, and feeling.
If you’d like, Learn Chinese Perth can also turn this topic into a speaking activity: bring one New Year snack and introduce its meaning, flavour, and texture in Mandarin.
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