Red eggs and ginger have great significance in Chinese family life. Simmered in a soup of pig’s feet and dark vinegar, they protect a new mother from harm. Eggs give her protein, while ginger makes her blood flow and helps her heal.

A red egg party, given a month after the birth of a child, formally welcomes the little one to life. Eggs, symbolizing fertility, are boiled hard and dyed red, for good luck.