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Chinese New Year is the largest celebration all year round for any Chinese on earth. It’s a time when happiness spreads to every inch in China and abroad. Therefore, one of the best ways of celebrating the greatest Chinese holiday of all is to have a great feast.

Lai Lai Garden in Blue Bell, PA is a terrific Chinese and Japanese restaurant that Mom and I are greatly familiar with. It combines many tastes of China into a menu. The restaurant also has a sushi bar, but I’m not the craziest fan of sushi. Lai Lai Garden has amazing scenery. Its main entrance lobby looks like the one in a gorgeous hotel with a dazzling marble tile floor, a sparkling crystal chandelier, antique wooden chairs for customers to sit and wait, a flat LCD TV that shows whatever is on, and even a cabinet full of expensive wines.

When Mom and I walked up to the reception, a waiter came and took us to our reserved seats. Menus were handed out, and I scanned overall selections. Not that I knew which tasted good and which didn’t, I was fully occupied with my video games and gave all the responsibility to Mom. Soon it would be a choice that I regretted. Twenty or so minutes later, dishes piled on the table from end to end, i.e. bean curd, dumplings, noodles, seafood, pork, beef, duck, and anything that you could name. There was a plate of cold, Spicy Beef Tendon with Chili Vinaigrette I munched with my orthodontic braces and put aside after a couple of bites. Then a plate of sliced pig ears came into sight, which was also a cold appetizer. The Pig Ear was cut into strips and drowned in roasted chili vinaigrette. Each strip tasted crunchy and the spicy flavor exploded on every chew. We put it aside, too, and moved on to the noodles. The noodles were served with minced pork in a small bowl and covered in Szechuan hot pepper sauce. I dug in, slumping up noodle after noodle. This dish was called Dan Dan Noodles and became a Chinese classic. Mom and I quickly gulped it down and began mumbling on some Boiled Dumplings with Roasted Chili Vinaigrette. Then, three large main courses arrived: Peking Duck, Tofu in a Clay Pot with Assorted Seafood and Vegetable, and a huge whole fish of Chilean sea bass overlaid with Szechuan sauce.

We started with the Peking Duck. The dish came with a sweet bean sauce, a type of Chinese bun or pancake, scallions, and cucumbers. With those ingredients, we made sandwiches in Peking style. The sauce was sweet and dominated the flavor, while the duck just gave a good feeling in my mouth.

Next came Tofu in a Clay Pot with Assorted Seafood and Vegetable. It seemed just like a simple dish of silken tofu, fish filet, scallops, shrimp, crab, and seasonal vegetables. The flavor was pretty plain, making the taste of seafood very obvious.

Finally, Mom and I advanced to our best dish. By this time, my stomach was bulging with food. The fish had no flavor in particular. But when I dipped a piece of fish into the sauce and sizzled onto it, the fish burst with spectacular taste. Fireworks went off in my mouth. Warmth filled me with every chew and spread to the rest of my body. If I had more room, that fish would’ve vanished.

After Mom and I crammed down the last bits of food we could eat, the waiter packed the leftover in the containers for us. With all this good food, I’ll be set for the entire year of the sheep.

【红霞译文】

“爆竹声声陈旧，桃符代代更新。”

中国新年堪称全球华人辞岁迎新普天同庆的年度节日，举国上下大江南北到处洋溢着幸福快乐，日益伴随着我们民族传统从历史走向未来，无疑，舌尖上的中国美食已成为海内外同胞共举杯盏阖家团聚最为推崇的盛宴组成部分。

宾州蓝铃镇附近，“来来花园”是一家遐迩闻名的中日餐厅，我和妈妈可谓这里的常客。它集华夏民间佳肴之大成，同时兼设日本寿司专柜，可惜我并不感冒东洋料理。“来来花园”内部装潢雅致，正堂门厅俨若华丽入时的酒店，大理石地面明净无几，水晶吊灯熠熠生辉，为顾客提供的木制座椅古色古香, 平板液晶电视不断播放当下节目，酒吧里摆满了五花八门的名贵葡萄酒。

当我和妈妈走近前台，服务生迎面带我们来到事先预约的座席并递上菜谱，我泛泛扫视一遍，尚未弄清哪个可口哪个好吃，便只身投入到轰轰烈烈的电子视频游戏之中，点餐的重任全部落在妈妈的肩上，不久我追悔莫及。廿分钟左右，冷盘热菜纷纷出笼，纵横占据了整个桌面，豆腐、水饺、面条、海鲜、猪牛鸭应声而上。一盘凉拌头台为“红油牛筋”，有牙箍当道，我无法嚼碎筋皮之坚，仅尝过几口只好善罢甘休；另一盘“红油耳丝”同样也是开胃小吃，“肥猪耳朵”被切成细条，再拌上麻辣香醋，吃上去味香质脆，嚼起来辛辣火爆；继而我们又转战面条，肉末拌川式麻酱辣油，条条香浓，意犹未见，这就是大名鼎鼎的“担担面”，我和妈妈大块朵颐，很快便把它消灭得干干净净；还有红油水饺，外加三大盘主餐：“北京烤鸭”、“三鲜豆腐煲”、“川式红烧全鱼—智利鲈鱼”。

我们先以“北京烤鸭”开戒，鸭肉抹点甜面酱，一并用荷叶饼卷上葱丝黄瓜条，正宗的老北京吃法无愧天下美味。面酱偏甜，主导鲜嫩醇厚的口感。

接着轮到用砂锅烧炖的“三鲜豆腐煲”，由嫩豆腐、鱼片、扇贝、虾仁、蟹肉及应时蔬菜杂烩而成，色泽清爽，海鲜味浓。

吃到最后，我和妈妈只是简单地动了几筷子压轴鱼便停了下来，此时肚子涨得要命，舌尖早已失去味觉，不过待我夹点鱼肉蘸些浇盖在鱼表面上的佐料之后，顿感齿颊留香余味绕肠，但凡胃口尚在，咱说什么也不会放手这号天府国香。

我们酒足饭饱，服务生将剩菜剩饭归置打包，有这么多好吃的东西携带在身，我毋需发愁即将到来的羊年生计。

一夜连双岁，五更分二天。

寒辞去冬雪，暖带入春风。

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