The locals believe the rolling pin, which is used to roll out doughs for the pastries, has to be put away from the New Year's eve until the Lantern Festival that falls on the 15th day of the Chinese New Year.

The pastries they make are in different patterns and sizes: big,snail-like twisted rolls are gifts married women take to their parents' home and small, lozenge-shaped buns are for distant relations.

Pastries are also made in the shape of birds and animals to improve the children's appetite, and ordinary buns are painted with a red spot each to look festive.

In some villages in central Shaanxi, a young wife will be entrusted by the villagers to present a doll made of flour to eachnewly-wed couple, with hopes these families will have children in the coming years. Enditem