In the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1911) and the Republic of China period (1912-49), farmers in Jizhou usually had three meals a day, two meals of porridge and one normal meal. When wheat was harvested, farmers had four meals a day in the Qingdianwa area, including two at home in the morning and evening, and two in the field at noon and afternoon. The lunch meal included steamed buns, pancakes, rice with water, and green onion and sauce. After the wheat harvest, farmers in Qingdianwa and Taihewa made chow mein, which they usually ate as a main food when it was cloudy and rainy. There are still farmers today who like to eat chow mein. In summer, people in most areas of Jizhou were accustomed to eating cold food, and this custom has survived to this day. In winter, people had two meals a day, and in the twelfth lunar month, those in relatively good financial condition prepared steamed buns and rice cakes, and ate pastry before the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. In the past, people had cabbage as the main vegetable from late autumn to spring, and it was also served at banquets. Every household made sauce in spring and pickles in autumn.
According to local customs, guests were sat at a banquet following a set of rules, which also provided that tea should be 70 percent full, rice 80 percent full, and wine 100 percent full for the guests to show enough respect. These customs remained the same in the 1980s.