With the Spring Festival, or Chinese New Year, just around the corner, Shanghai residents are busy preparing for the most important celebration of the year by shopping for various traditional food.

The Spring Festival marks the beginning of a new lunar year and the start of a new zodiac cycle. This year, the festival falls on Feb 10, ushering in the Year of the Dragon, a symbol of power, strength and good luck in Chinese culture.

Here is a list of some of the most popular items:

Eight-treasure rice

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A sweet rice pudding with various dried fruits, nuts, and beans, often served as a dessert during the festival. It symbolizes prosperity and happiness, as the number eight is considered lucky in Chinese culture and the ingredients represent different treasures.

Sugar rice cake

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A sticky and chewy cake made from glutinous rice flour and brown sugar. It is a must-have for the festival, as its name sounds like "higher year" in Chinese, implying growth and success. People like to slice and fry the cake, making it crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.

Pumpkin seeds

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A common snack that is roasted and salted, the seeds represent fertility and abundance, as the pumpkin is large and fruitful.

Toffee

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A hard candy made from sugar, butter and cream, sometimes with nuts or fruits added, symbolizing sweetness and joy.

Black sesame glutinous rice balls

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The dessert is made from glutinous rice flour and black sesame paste. Black sesame paste is a mixture of black sesame, lard and sugar, which gives the filling a soft, sweet taste. The glutinous rice dough is shaped into balls, stuffed with filling and boiled in water.