1 Table of Contents

1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 2
2 Varieties of Chinese foods by different regains .............................................................................. 4
2.1 Regions of Mainland China ..................................................................................................... 4
2.2 Other regions .......................................................................................................................... 4
2.3 Other categories ..................................................................................................................... 4
2.4 Typical Dishes .......................................................................................................................... 4
2.5 Breakfast food ......................................................................................................................... 5
2.6 Starches ................................................................................................................................... 5
2.7 Hot Dishes ............................................................................................................................... 5
2.8 Cold Dishes .............................................................................................................................. 5
2.9 Soups and Congees ................................................................................................................. 6
2.10 Staple Food and Xiaochi .......................................................................................................... 6
3 Features of Chinese food ................................................................................................................ 6
3.1 Varied Flavors.......................................................................................................................... 6
3.2 Different dishes in different seasons ...................................................................................... 6
3.3 Aesthetic sense ....................................................................................................................... 7
4 Combining Food and Chinese Medicine ......................................................................................... 7
4.1 Philosophical Thinking in Chinese Food Culture ..................................................................... 7
5 Chinese Dining Etiquette................................................................................................................. 7
5.1 Table/Place Settings/Seating Order/ Introduction Etiquette ................................................. 7
5.1.1 Table ................................................................................................................................ 7
5.1.2 Place Settings .................................................................................................................. 8
5.1.3 Seating Order .................................................................................................................. 8
5.1.4 Introduction Etiquette .................................................................................................... 8
5.2 Table Manners in Dining ......................................................................................................... 8
5.2.1 Eating .............................................................................................................................. 8
5.2.2 Drinking ........................................................................................................................... 8
5.3 After Finishing the Meal.......................................................................................................... 9
5.3.1 Paying Bill ........................................................................................................................ 9
5.3.2 Leaving the Banquet ....................................................................................................... 9
5.3.3 Dining Taboo ................................................................................................................... 9
6 Conclusion ....................................................................................................................................... 9
Chinese Cuisine Culture
1 Introduction
Chinese cuisine is widely seen as representing one of the richest and most diverse
culinary heritages in the world. It originated in different regions of China and has been
introduced to other parts of the world- from Southeast Asia to North America and
Western Europe.

A meal in Chinese culture is typically seen as consisting of two general components

1 a carbohydrate source or starch, known as 主食 in the Chinese language (Pinyin:

zhǔshí; lit. "Main food", staple)- typically rice, noodles, or mantou (steamed buns), and

2 Accompanying dishes of vegetables, fish, meat, or other items, known as 菜 (Pinyin:

cài; lit. "Vegetable") in the Chinese language. (This cultural conceptualization is in some
ways in contrast to Western meals where meat or animal protein is often considered the
main dish.)

As is well known throughout the world, rice is a critical part of much of Chinese cuisine.
However, in many parts of China, particularly North China, wheat-based products
including noodles and steamed buns (饅頭) predominate, in contrast to South China
where rice is dominant. Despite the importance of rice in Chinese cuisine, at extremely
formal occasions, it is sometimes the case that no rice at all will be served; in such a case,
rice would only be provided when no other dishes remained, or as a token dish at the end
of the meal. Soup is usually served at the end of a meal to satiate one's appetite. Owing to
western influences, serving soup in the beginning of a meal is also quite normal in
modern times.

Chopsticks are the primary eating utensil in Chinese culture for solid foods, while soups
and other liquids are enjoyed1 with a wide, flat-bottomed spoon (traditionally made of
ceramic). It is reported that wooden chopsticks are losing their dominance due to recent
logging shortfalls in China and East Asia; many Chinese eating establishments are
considering a switch to a more environmentally sustainable eating utensil, such as plastic
or bamboo chopsticks. More expensive materials used in the past included ivory and
silver. On the other hand, disposable chopsticks made of wood/bamboo have all but
replaced reusable ones in small restaurants. In most dishes in Chinese cuisine, food is
prepared in smaller pieces (e.g. vegetable, meat, doufu), ready for direct picking up and
eating. Traditionally, Chinese culture considered using knives and forks at the table
"barbaric" due to fact that these implements are regarded as weapons. Fish are usually
cooked and served whole, with diners directly pulling pieces from the fish with
chopsticks to eat, unlike in some other cuisines where they are first filleted. This is
because it is desired for fish to be served as fresh as possible. A common Chinese saying
"including head and tail" refers to the wholeness and completion of a certain task or, in
this case, the display of food.

In a Chinese meal, each individual diner is given their own bowl of rice while the
accompanying dishes are served in communal plates (or bowls) which are shared by
everyone sitting at the table, a communal service known as "family style" in Western
nations. In the Chinese meal, each diner picks food out of the communal plates on a bite-
by-bite basis with their chopsticks. This is in contrast to western meals where it is
customary to dole out individual servings of the dishes at the beginning of the meal.
Many non-Chinese are uncomfortable with allowing a person's individual utensils (which
might have traces of saliva) to touch the communal plates; for this hygienic reason,
additional serving spoons or chopsticks (公筷, lit. common/public/shared chopsticks)
may be made available. The food selected is often eaten together with a mouthful of rice.

Vegetarianism is not uncommon or unusual in China, though, as is the case in the West, is
still only practiced by a relatively small proportion of the population. The Chinese
vegetarian does not eat a lot of tofu, unlike the stereotypical impression in the West. Most
Chinese vegetarians are Buddhists. Non-Chinese eating Chinese cuisine will note that a
large number of vegetable dishes may actually contain meat, as meat chunks or bits have
been traditionally used to flavor dishes. Chinese Buddhist cuisine has many true
vegetarian dishes (no meat at all).

For much of China's history, human manure has been used as fertilizer due to the large
human population and the relative scarcity of farm animals in China. For this reason, raw
food (especially raw vegetables such as salad) has not been part of the traditional Chinese
diet.

Desserts as such are less typical in Chinese culture than in the West. Chinese meals do
not typically end with a dessert or dessert course as is common in Western cuisine.
Instead, sweet foods are often introduced during the course of the meal with no firm
distinction made. For instance, the basi fruit dishes (sizzling sugar syrup coated fruits
such as banana or apple) are eaten alongside other savory dishes that would be considered
main course items in the West. However, many sweet foods and dessert snacks do exist in
Chinese cuisine. Many are fried, and several incorporate red bean paste (dousha). The
matuan and the doushabao is filled with dousha; it is often eaten for breakfast. Some
steamed bun items are filled with dousha; some of these are in the shape of peaches, an
important Chinese cultural symbol. Another dessert is Babao Fan (八寶飯) or "Eight
Treasure Rice Pudding".

If dessert is served at the end of the meal, by far the most typical choice is fresh fruit,
such as sliced oranges. The second most popular choice is a type of sweet soup, typically
made with red beans and sugar. This soup is served warm.

In Chinese culture, cold beverages are believed to be harmful to digestion of hot food, so
items like ice-cold water or soft drinks are traditionally not served at meal-time. Besides
 soup, if any other beverages are served, they would most likely be hot tea or hot water.
Tea is believed to help in the digestion of greasy foods.

2 Varieties of Chinese foods by different regains

Due to the large and varied characteristics of China itself, a multitude of different
regional and other (e.g. religious) styles can be identified in the larger complex of
Chinese cuisine:

2.1 Regions of Mainland China

Cuisine name derives from province or region except where indicated

 Northwestern Chinese cuisine

 Mandarin cuisine
 Jiang-Huai cuisine
 Northeastern Chinese cuisine
 Cantonese cuisine (Guangdong province)
 Chiuchow cuisine (Chaozhou region, Guangdong)
 Hakka cuisine (Hakka ethnic group)
 Hunan cuisine
 Shanghai cuisine
 Sichuan cuisine
 Fujian cuisine
 Yunnan cuisine
 Hainan cuisine

2.2 Other regions

 Hong Kong cuisine

 Macanese cuisine
 Taiwanese cuisine
 Nanyang Chinese cuisine (cuisine of the Nanyang region or Southeast Asia Chinese
diaspora)

2.3 Other categories

 Historical Chinese cuisine

 Chinese Islamic cuisine
 Chinese Buddhist cuisine

2.4 Typical Dishes

A Chinese meal in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, with bowls of white rice, shrimp, eggplant,
fermented tofu, vegetable stir-fries, vegetarian duck, and a central dish with meat and
bamboo. There are 6 bowls of rice, one for each person.
  Fried rice
 Jiaozi (filled dumplings, guotie)
 Potsticker (shallow fried jiaozi)
 Noodles
o Fried noodles
o Noodle soup
 Kung Pao chicken
 Hotpot
 Fried pancakes (including green onion pancakes)
 Zongzi (rice balls, wrapped in leaves)
 Peking Duck - the trademark dish of Beijing
 Baozi (filled steamed buns)
 Dim sum - originated in Guangzhou (Canton) and Hong Kong
 Steamed fish
 Tofu dishes

2.5 Breakfast food

 Century egg (皮蛋; pi2 dan4; lit. leather egg): hundred-day old egg, or preserved egg
 Tea egg (茶葉蛋; cha2 ye4 dan4): hard boiled egg soaked or stewed in tea
 Congee (粥; zhou1): rice porridge
 Pickled vegetables (醬菜; jiang4 cai4; lit. sauced vegetables)
 Soy milk (豆奶; dou4 nai3 or 豆漿; dou4 jiang1) in either sweet or "salty" form
 Youtiao (油條), "Cow tongue pastry" (牛脷酥), or other fried Chinese doughfoods
 Shaobing (燒餅): a flaky baked or pan-seared dough pastry.
 Rice balls (飯糰; fan4 tuan2) with savory fillings or coatings

2.6 Starches

 Mantou (steamed bread)

 White rice
 Noodles

2.7 Hot Dishes

Hot dish is a concept comparing with cold dish. Normally, main course is also called hot
dish. Hot dishes are normally cooked using techniques like stir-frying, deep-frying, Liu,
quick-frying, Hui, etc.

2.8 Cold Dishes

Cold dishes are the first course in traditional Chinese banquet. Salt, sugar, chili powder,
light soy sauce, vinegar and sesame oil are often used to make cold dishes. Cold dishes
attach great importance to the designing of the dish, which is the “shape” of the dish.
Normally, cold dish can provoke people’s appetite.
2.9 Soups and Congees
Instead of adding milk or cream into the soup, Chinese soups are adding refined starches
from corn to thickening the soups. There are also light soups which don’t use starches.
Normal ingredients for soups are vegetables and meat, like pork and chicken. Soups are
served following the hot dishes. Chinese people believe that soups are good for health.

Congee is a kind of porridge or gruel. Except for rice and other cereals, meat, fish and
sometimes vegetables and flavorings are added into the congee. Congee is a good choice
for breakfast. Congee is easy to digest, so it’s a great choice of ill people and young
infants.

2.10 Staple Food and Xiaochi

Rice is the staple food in southern China, for southern China is the rice farming areas.
People always eat steamed rice. While in Northern China, which is a wheat farming area,
people normally eat flour-based food, like noodles, mantou (a kind of steamed buns) and
dumplings.

Xiaochi are a kind of snacks. They are often sold in street stalls or small restaurants.
Normally, one stall only sells one kind of snacks. Xiaochi is kind of light meal, and it’s
often self-contained and easily portable. Different regions have different Xiaochi. They
are very popular among tourists and local people.

3 Features of Chinese food

As the famous French sinologist Jacques Gernet has stated, “There is no doubt that in this
sphere China has shown a greater inventiveness than any other civilization.” Indeed,
Chinese are among the peoples of the world who have been particularly preoccupied with
food and eating. This food culture has formed since the ancient time and is deeply rooted
in traditional Chinese culture, including Yin-Yang and Five Elements, Confucianism,
Traditional Chinese Medicine, cultural and artistic achievements and national characters.
In general, the Chinese food culture has the following features:

3.1 Varied Flavors

China has a vast territory and abundant resources, and each region has different climate,
natural products and folk customs. After a long time, different region has formed its own
food flavors. For example, people in southern China take rice as staple food, while people
from northern China are used to eat noodles or steamed buns as staple food. As for the
flavor, the whole country can be generally divided into four parts: sweet south, salt north,
sour east and spicy west.

3.2 Different dishes in different seasons

Chinese people will change their menus as the switch of each season, from the raw
materials to the cooking methods, each season uses different seasonings and accompany
dishes. Winter has a thicker and rich flavor, while summer features in light and cool
 flavor; cuisines in winter are most braised or stewed, while in summer, they are mostly
served as cold and dressed with sauce.

3.3 Aesthetic sense

Chinese cuisine puts great importance on the aesthetic sense of the dish, and pursues the
harmony in color, aroma, taste, shape and utensil. The aesthetic sense of the cuisine can
be expressed from multiple aspects. No matter the raw material is Chinese cabbage or
carrot, they can all be cut into different shapes to match the whole dish, which gives
people a highly unified mental and physical enjoyment.

4 Combining Food and Chinese Medicine

Chinese people believe that except providing nutrition to the body, food can also cure
disease. When you are not serious ill, you can cure your disease by eating the right food,
only after the food doesn’t work, you may turn to the medicine. Medicine is believed to
have some toxicity more or less, thus, food is a safer way to maintain health and cure
disease (sadly to say, it works slower).

4.1 Philosophical Thinking in Chinese Food Culture

Traditional Chinese philosophy has infiltrated in every respects of Chinese food culture.

Yin-Yang and Five Elements: Yin and Yang represent two complementary aspects of
every phenomenon. While Five Elements refer to meter, wood, water, fire and earth, and
the nature is created by the circulation and the mutual promotion and restraint among the
Five Elements. When applying this philosophical thinking into Chinese Food, Yin and
Yang represent two aspects of human body, while five elements mean the food can be
divided into five categories: hot, warm, neutral, cool and cold. Eat hot and warm food can
promote the Yang in human body, while eat cool and cold food can promote Yin in
human body. Neutral food is a kind of balance of human body. Only the Yin and Yang in
human body keeps in a balanced level, people can maintain his health.

5 Chinese Dining Etiquette

As a state of ceremonies, China has always attached great importance to etiquette.
Chinese dining etiquette is an important portion of Chinese food culture. Good dining
etiquette and table manners can show one’s good self-cultivation and leave good
impression to your Chinese host. Here is some basic dining etiquette of Chinese culture
for you at the following. Do in Rome as Rome dose!

5.1 Table/Place Settings/Seating Order/ Introduction Etiquette

5.1.1 Table
In China, people share dishes communally. In order to permit easy sharing, square and
rectangular tables are normally used for small groups of people, while round tables for
 large groups. If the round table is very large, then it usually has a Lazy Susan turntable to
facilitate passing or serving dishes.

5.1.2 Place Settings

In restaurants, a basic place-setting includes a set of chopsticks, a spoon, a small teacup, a
large plate and a rice bowl. In a more formal occasion, a chopstick holder, a large water
or wine glass and a small glass for baijiu are provided. Tissues are provided on the table
in low-end restaurants, while high-end restaurants provide cloth napkins as part of the
place-settings.

5.1.3 Seating Order

In a formal dinner, the seating order is very strict. Chinese seating order is based on
seniority and organizational hierarchy. In general, the seat of honor is usually the one in
the center facing east or facing the entrance. This seat is usually reserved for the guest
with highest status or a foreign guest of honor. Others with higher status sit in close
proximity to the seat of honor, and those with positions sit further away. While as a host,
he may take the least prominent seat, usually the one nearest the kitchen entrance or
service door. Only after the senior or the guest of honor sit down, other people can be
seated.

5.1.4 Introduction Etiquette

When you take self-introduction, you should introduce yourself after nodding to other
people and receiving response. The introduction should be concise and comprehensive
and about half a minute. When you are introduced by other people, you should stand up
as well as your introducer, and after the introduction, you can take your seat.

5.2 Table Manners in Dining

5.2.1 Eating
Guest should start eating after the host gives a sign to start eating.

Don’t pick up too much food in your bowl at once, and you should eat up the food in the
bowl first and then pick up more food.

Quiet and slow chewing will suggest your good manner.

When you pick up food, don’t touch people next to you and remember, it’s not polite to
push the food out of the plate and spill the soup.

Talk to other people with a full mouth is also impolite.

Don’t eat the food which is dropped on the table.

When you pick your teeth, use your hand or napkin to cover in front of your mouth.

5.2.2 Drinking
Toast is a very important part in a Chinese banquet. In formal banquet, alcohol should be
consumed during toasts. A modest toast may be followed by a single sip of wine or
 swallow of beer, but a baijiu toast is often ended with Ganbei (an exhortation to drain the
glass). Normally, glassed are refilled immediately following a toast in preparation for the
next round.

The normal sequence of toast is: first, the host proposes a toast to the guest of honor,
second, Peike (a guest invited to help entertain the guest of honor) proposes a toast to the
guest of honor, then the guest of honor proposes a toast in return, at last, Peike will toast
to each other. Remember: as a guest, don’t usurp the host’s role to toast everyone, that’s
an disrespectful gesture to the host.

5.3 After Finishing the Meal

5.3.1 Paying Bill
As a guest, you should argue for the opportunity to pay the bill, but always give in and
graciously accept the hospitality of your host. If you insist on paying the bill, this
insinuates that your host cannot afford to pay the bill.

5.3.2 Leaving the Banquet

If you want to leave in the middle of the banquet, explain to your host why you are
leaving early and express that you’re sorry for leaving early, and then express your
appreciation to the host’s hospitality. Remember: do not invite other guests to leave with
you. In that case, the banquet will be over in advance.

If you are leaving after the banquet, please express your thanks to the host for his
hospitality, in some case, you can make an invitation to the host to your banquet.

5.3.3 Dining Taboo

 Do not lick the food attaching on the chopsticks and don’t use them to
move the bowl or plate.
 Do not use your chopsticks to strike the bowl or tea cup.
 Do not stick your chopsticks vertically into your food owing to a Chinese
practice of leaving such dishes for the dead.
 Do not “dig” or “search through one’s food for something in particular.
This is sometimes known as “digging one’s grave” and is extremely poor
manners.
 Do not use chopsticks to point at other people or to wave them around.
 Do not spearing food with the chopsticks.

6 Conclusion
China Food Culture also called China Cuisine Culture as an important part of China
Culture is a systematic show of Chinese cooking art. In different regions of China,
different famous cuisines or dishes are most welcomed. So China has many different
types of cuisine tradition. In Shandong, call it Shangdong cuisine, which is themed with
strong taste and diverse ingredients. In Sichuan, call it Sichuan cuisine featuring the hot
taste and pepper-centered ingredients. In Canton, call the food Cantonese food, which is
vividly featured of the cooking materials and diverse tastes. In Jiangsu,call the cuisine
Huiyang Cuisine, which is themed with the local delicacies of Huaian and Yangzhou. In
Anhui province, call it the food as Hui cuisine, which is strongly characterized of the
strong oil and taste. Different styles of cuisine reflect different preferences of local
citizens and also release the local tradition