Chinese and Western food are two completely different kinds of food, with obvious differences in taste, cooking methods, staple foods, and even dining styles. At the same time there is very little overlap between Western and Chinese cultures,but there are special examples, such as pasta, hamburgers, and pizza, which are famous Western foods, and of course some people believe that these foods are borrowed from Chinese noodles, meat loaf, and pancakes.

With all the cultural exchanges in the world, Chinese food has appeared on the tables of Westerners, and Western food has also appeared around us, like a lot of famous Western food can be found around us. For this phenomenon in the U.S. version of the Zhihu, there are foreigners asked "Why is Western food in China is considered superior, Chinese food in the West is considered fast food?" Western food is still a kind of high-end consumer food around us, but it does not belong to the upper class. Many people would like to experience this kind of dining style and food once, if we talk about the most favorite food we will still choose Chinese food, after all, Chinese food is rich in catering to our tastes, and there are many different patterns, which Western food can not do. And western food can become a more upscale consumption of food around us, the ultimate reason is that it belongs to the western food has an exotic flavor, and western restaurant around us is not as common as the Chinese restaurant, of course, then again, or because of our tastes do not like western food, it is just a worthwhile experience of the food, so the number of western restaurant will only be less than the Chinese restaurant. Chinese restaurants are less, unlike Chinese restaurants which have become very common abroad.

So why is Chinese food considered a fast food in the West? There are three main reasons, as we said before. The first point is that fast food is popular among westerners, and Chinese food naturally caters to them. The second point is that Chinese food in foreign countries had a low start in the early days, when opening a Chinese restaurant abroad was just a kind of breadwinner business, which led to their stereotypical perception of Chinese food, even though there are many high-grade Chinese restaurants in foreign countries nowadays. The third point is that the Chinese food that westerners eat is not traditional Chinese food, they are food that caters to western tastes. Now let's take a look at the foreigner's question, "Why is Western food considered superior in China, while Chinese food is considered fast food in the West?" What do foreigners think about this question. Some foreigners said: Both statements are not completely correct. Yes, Western food in Western restaurants is more expensive in China, and it is much cheaper to eat local Chinese food. In some cases, eating at such a restaurant can be a special occasion, sometimes an "elegant" experience. On the other hand, those who have little exposure to Western food or the outside world are usually only exposed to "Western" food through fast food, so they don't think too much about it. Chinese food can also be "fast food", but in the West there are many Chinese restaurants that are not fast food, so people don't automatically assume that Chinese food is fast food by default. The question seems to be asked under the wrong premise.

Some foreigners said, "I'm going to indulge in this question even though it's actually a generalization. You see, Chinese food is in general cheap, so our model is to rate it with the best price. That's why in most cases (again, this is a generalization) ambiance is not favored over price and efficiency. This is also why Chinese people prefer to go to western restaurants on special occasions, it is more elegant. In addition to flavor, Western restaurants also seek ambiance, experience, decor, etc. In the West, most Chinese restaurants are known for their inexpensive buffets, offering inexpensive food such as chicken wings, chow mein and fried rice. Again, we aim to be different in price, efficiency, and even flavor.