Local residents have sold traditional snacks for Spring Festival for more than 30 years in Taicang, Jiangsu province.

Lu Dihua and Zhou Yueqin, two villagers from Huangjing town, own a workshop producing shaomai, Chinese yam cake and other snacks served during Chinese Lunar New Year celebrations in the rural areas of Taicang.

Their shaomai, a kind of steamed dumpling, has been adapted to modern tastes and diet, using Chinese cabbage, agaric, pork and eggs as stuffing.

Taicang villagers Lu Dihua and Zhou Yueqin make shaomai, a kind of steamed dumpling, with Chinese cabbage, agaric, pork and eggs as stuffing. [Photo from Taicang Daily]

Lu Dihua has catered for rural communities for years. His experience of providing food for weddings, funerals and festival celebrations gave him many ideas for creating new recipes with healthier ingredients and lighter tastes.

Lu's daughter and niece work in the city. They helped promote delicious food to urban workers through WeChat, a social media platform widely used in China.

The store sold nearly 1,000 shaomai, yam cake and other products each week and received many positive comments from WeChat users, praising the food as "unpretentious and quality".

The lard is home-made and fresh. The condiments used are purchased from famous brands, and Lu and his wife Zhou wait for half an hour for the stuffing to get thoroughly seasoned.

Taicang villagers Lu Dihua and Zhou Yueqin make shaomai, a kind of steamed dumpling, with Chinese cabbage, agaric, pork and eggs as stuffing. [Photo from Taicang Daily]

The Chinese yam cakes are made of pine nut, black jujube, marinated orange peel and carrot peel and of course, steamed and mashed Chinese yam.

Lu Dihua adds mashed Chinese yam to pine nut, black jujube and other ingredients to make Chinese yam cake. [Photo from Taicang Daily]

Edited by Andrew Ancheta