Customs on eating

Food between China and Western countries are totally different styles. China has 5000 years history. We probably spend half of time on food. Chinese people choose food very carefully. They only use fresh material to make food. For example they only eat fresh fish. Chinese have a lot of ideas and techniques for cooking. We can cook a chicken in over ten ways. That's why Chinese food is so popular in the world. Western country like English or American, they don't have fresh food because they buy their food from supermarket which only sells stored materials. Western people would also prefer fast food like burgers and chips. They are unhealthy to human body. Western people do not have many skills for cooking, mostly they only boil, steam and bake the food. By the way, western people are very good at making desert and chocolate. They can make very good cake and chocolate. They are very sweet but it's sort of food which make you become fat quickly.

In china if you invite people for meal, the person who invited other people would pay for the meal but it's not the way in Western country. In western country people will think you only invited me but it's not your responsibility to pay for me. I can afford it. They won't be happy if you pay for them. People in China would always put dishes into customer's plate to show their hospitality, but they will think it's not healthy because your chopsticks have been used by you. I

n western country like America not England, people will always give tips to waiter after they finished meal in a restaurant. If you don't they will not be happy because tips are one of their major income. In china this only happens in some top restaurants and hotels in large international cities like Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. Western people will also think you are rude if you make sound during the meal. Western people do not hold their bowl up even when they have a bowl of soup.

There is also a huge difference between Chinese and Western people. Chinese people use chopsticks and western people use fork and knife. Usually people who use fork and knife will use fork to hold the meat and cut it by knife and use fork to help to get that piece of meat into mouse. Chinese just use chopstick to pick things and pass it into your mouse.

Chinese people only have three meals during a day. But western people will have more, they have afternoon tea. Usually they would have fruits, homemade cake, tea (black tea) or biscuit with cheese. If you are a housewife and have a lot of time, you may have morning tea as well.

Generally I think Chinese food is much better than Western food not because I am Chinese. I think most people will agree with me as well. You can see Chinese food in any where all over the world. That shows the success of Chinese food. Western food may improve after long time.

Reference:/english/2007-05/10246.htm