Following the winter solstice is the Chinese New Year Eve, when the rites of thanking the year are performed. The offerings usually include a pig's head, pork, fish (or died fish), chicken, Shuijin cakes, steamed buns, dayubao (made of glutinous rice flour and weighing over 2.5 kilograms), bean noodles, rice, peanuts and red dates. The offerings will be consumed in the following days. On the New Year's Eve, Spring Festival scrolls are put up at the door of every household.

The staple dinner foods for New Year's Eve may be different in each household, such as maiyouzi, Shuijin cakes, zongzi and steamed buns, but it is universal to prepare over ten dishes. The ancestors are worshiped before the family's reunion dinner, which should be attended by all the family members without exception. After the dinner, another dish should be prepared with red dates put on the top for the beginning of the New Year, which symbolizes abundance over the whole year. The senior member of the family gives the children gift money to celebrate their being one year older. Next, the firecrackers are set off in front of the door to bid farewell to the old year with the windows shut, which is called "closing firecracker". The lights should be kept on till dawn. The family usually sits around the stove to do "shousui" or stay up late or all night to show their cherishing of the old year and their good wishes for the New Year.

The unique festival diet is a reflection of the time-honored folk ways of primitive simplicity and the moral principle of worshiping and adoring ancestors, which strengthen the cohesion among the Linhai people. The unique and abundant diet embodies the Linhai people's diligence and intelligence.