LOCAL FOOD GUIDE

Tonggu Taro-Starch Dumplings 铜鼓包圆

Tonggu Baoyuan

Tonggu Taro-Starch Dumplings is featured among the local specialties of Jiangxi.

Tonggu Taro-Starch Dumplings (铜鼓包圆) — dish photograph
A common version of Tonggu Taro-Starch Dumplings · 铜鼓包圆常见做法参考照片。Photo: k.sina.cn
Image notes

Resized for the web; the photo itself has not been edited.

Tonggu Taro-Starch Dumplings (铜鼓包圆) are triangular parcels eaten by Hakka (客家) communities in Tonggu (铜鼓), Yichun (宜春), during festivals. Their main ingredients are taro and sweet-potato starch, with a filling of cured meat, winter bamboo shoots and garlic shoots.

Where it comes from

The name baoyuan evokes reunion, although the dumplings themselves are triangular. CCTV explains it as a wish for people from all directions to come together, expressing attachment to home among Tonggu Hakka families whose roots lie in the Central Plains and the Jiangxi, Fujian and Guangdong regions.

How it is eaten

CCTV reporter Sun Jiayin (孙佳音) presents the dumplings at Lantern Festival celebrations in Tangli Ancient Town (汤里古城) in February 2023. Here, baoyuan accompanies festivities that include the spring-ox dance, marking the approach of spring farming.

Sources & reading

Written from the linked sources and fact-checked against them on 2026-09-27. Recipes and servings vary between kitchens.