Toon sprouts.[Photo provided to China Daily]

When the restaurant opens at 7 am, the queue to buy rice balls at Wang JiaSha usually measures more than 100 meters. In line are people of all ages, and Liu notes that the rice ball has in recent times grown in popularity among the younger generation.

One of those in the queue is a 56-year-old Shanghainese woman surnamed Zhao, who says she is buying the rice balls for her son and not as offerings for Qingming Festival.

"This restaurant is my son's favorite when it comes to this snack. Our ancestors aren't picky like my son - they will make do with those from the supermarkets or other shops.

Besides, they can buy whatever they want with the hell money we burn for them," says Zhao.