Chinese dumplings (饺子 Jiaozi /jyaoww-dzrr/) can form a meal in themselves. Jiaozi restaurants can be found in all the larger Chinese cities, and dumplings are traditionally made at home, particularly in North China, as Chinese New Year Food.

Ordering Dumplings

Chinese dumplings (饺子jiǎozi /jyaoww-dzrr/) are a favorite with Westerners and some restaurants specialize in just dumplings. About 20 or 30 is usually enough for a meal, 40 if you're really hungry. Dumplings are ordered in (traditionally bamboo) trays called long of 10 or 20 dumplings. So you can say yī lóng (一笼 /ee-long/ "one tray") followed by your choice of filling to order.

Popular fillings include the standard minced pork (猪肉zhūròu /joo-roh/), as well as beef (牛肉niúròu /nyoh-roh/), cabbage (白菜báicài /beye-tseye/), and garlic and chives (韭菜jiǔcài /jyoh-tseye/). See below for a sample dumping menu, with pronunciation and characters to recognize and point to.