1. Dietary culture is an important part of traditional Chinese culture.It has rich connotations including the resources of food,cooking skills,food production, dietotherapy ,public dietary ways and customs,and dietary art.

2. Throughout the long history of China, cuisine has played an important role and is now considered an integral part oftraditional Chinese culture.Generally speaking,there are three essential factors by which Chinese cooking is judged,namely,“color, aroma and taste”.“Color”refers to the layout and design of the dishes.“Aroma”implies not only the smell of the dish,but also the freshness of the materials and the blending ofseasonings.“Taste”involves proper seasoning and fine slicing techniques.These three essential factors are achieved by careful coordination of a series ofdelicate activities:selecting ingredients,mixing flavors,timing and cooking,adjustment of the heat,and laying out the food on the plate.A gourmet can find out slight differences in the tastes.

3. People living in different regions display great variety in their diets.People in coastal areas eat more seafood and aquatic products,whereas those in central and northwest China eat more domestic animals and poultry.Foods vary from north to south.Tastes also differ regionally because of the climatic differences.One popular summary of Chinese food is“sweet in the south,salty in the north,sour in the west,and spicy in the east.”People in different regions have created their own cuisines to suit their tastes.

4. There are four major cooking styles in China:Sichuan,Canton,Shandong and Huaiyang,each distinctly different.These are called the“Grand Four Categories of Chinese Cuisine”.Another way of categorization has divided Chinese cuisines into eight main schools:Shandong cuisine,Sichuan cuisine,Guangdong(also Cantonese) cuisine,Fujian cuisine,Jiangsu(also called Huaiyang)cuisine,Zhejiang cuisine,Hunan cuisine and Anhui cuisine.

5. Ingredients in Cantonese food range from fish,shrimp and poultry to snake,wild cat and giant salamander. Dim Sum ,or Yum Cha,as it is commonly referred to in English,is something like a local institution in Canton.Sichuan(Chuan)cuisine is distinctly spicy.Shandong(Lu)cuisine excels in fish and seafood dishes such as sea cucumber,squirrel fish,crab and eel.Huaiyang specialties are“West Lake Fish”and“Beggar’s Chicken”,bakedin lotus leaves in a clay pot.

6. Chopsticks are the dining utensils most frequently used in Chinese people’s daily life.It is said that chopsticks reflect gentleness and benevolence ,the main moral teachings of Confucianism.It may be an awkward experience for foreigners to use chopsticks to have a meal.Fortunately,learning to eat with chopsticks is not difficult.

7. China has long been known as the“land ofceremony and propriety”.Consequently,there are certain manners that should be observed at banquets or formal dinners.First,Chinese people attach great importance to the seating order at banquets or formal dinners.In ancient times,the most honorable guest sat facing the east,and the next important guest sat facing the south,next facing the north and the last facing the west.These days,normally the host sits facing the door,the person sitting on his left is the most honored guest,and the one on his left is the next most honored.

8. Apart from the seating order,there are also rules regarding the order of serving dishes and the way dishes are set on the table.Normally cold dishes are served before hot ones,and dry dishes are served before soup.Newly served dishes are always put near the most honorable guest;when whole fish,whole chicken or whole duck is served,the dish is normally put in such a way that the head is towards the most important guest.This is a way to show respect.

9. In China,people tend to eat together.Habitually the host will serve some dishes with his or her own chopsticks to guests to show his or her hospitality.

Traditional Chinese Dietotherapy

10. Guided by fundamental theories of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM),traditional Chinese dietotherapy(TCD)(also called Chinese medicated diet)is a specialty that concerns the study of how to make good use of foods and natural nutriments as well as Chinese material medicine to preserve health,prevent and heal diseases,quicken recoveries,and slow down aging.Dietotherapy is a gem in Chinese scientific cultural heritage.

11. The overriding idea about food in China is that the kind and the amount of food one takes are intimately relevant to one’s health.Food not only affects health as a matter of general principle,the selection of the right food at any particular time must also be dependent upon one’s health condition at that time.Food,therefore,is also medicine.The bodily functions,in the Chinese view,follow the basic yin - yang principles.Many foods are also classifiable into those that possess the yin quality and those of the yang quality.When yin and yang forces in the body are not balanced, problems result.Proper amounts offood of one kind or the other may then be administered(i.e.,eaten)to counterbalance the yin and yang disequilibrium .

12. It is understood in TCM that like herbs,foods are also in different natures and flavors,accounting for their actions ofreinforcement or reduction.Chinese traditional medicine has analyzed the properties of different foods,and divided them into four categories of cool,warm,hot and moderate foods.Hot and warm foods generate heat,expel coldness,warm up the viscera and smooth the channels.Cool foods reduce heat, detoxify and tranquilize .Moderate foods are middle way between the hot and the cool.Knowledge of the properties offoods is contributory to disease treatment and health care.

13. Chinese medicated diet lays stress on the whole and medicated diet is selected on the basis of differential diagnosis.It is suitable for both prevention and treatment,and it is outstanding in effect.Finally,the medicated diet is good in taste and convenient for taking.There goes the saying“Good medicine tastes bitter”among the people,because most of the decoctions of Chinese drugs are bitter.Some people,especially children,take an aversion to the bitterness of Chinese drugs and refuse to take them.Most of the drugs used in the medicated diet are both edible and medicinal,and retain the properties offood.This explains why the diet not only has the efficiency ofmedicine,but also the delicacy offood.

The Features of Chinese Food

14. The Chinese way of eating is characterized by a notable flexibility and adaptability .Since a dish is made of a mixture of ingredients,its distinctive appearance,taste,and flavor do not depend on the exact number ofingredients,nor,in most cases,on any single item.The same is true for a meal made up of a combination of dishes.In times of affluence ,a few more expensive items may be added,but if the times are hard they may be omitted without doing irreparable damage.If the season is not quite right,substitutes may be used.With the basic principles,a Chinese cook can prepare“Chinese”dishes for the poor as well as the rich,in times of scarcity as well as abundance ,and even in a foreign country without many familiar ingredients.The Chinese cook the way they do because of their need ofand desire for adaptability.

15. This adaptability is shown in at least two other features.The first is the amazing knowledge the Chinese have acquired about their wild plant resources.The Chinese peasants apparently know every edible plant in their environment,and plants there are many.Another feature of Chinese food habits that contributes to their notable adaptability is the large number and great variety of preserved foods.Again,with preserved foods,the Chinese people are ever ready in the event of hardship or scarcity.Perhaps the most important aspect of the Chinese food culture is the importance offooditselfin Chinese culture.Few can take exception to the statement that few other cultures are as food-oriented as the Chinese.And this orientation appears to be as ancient as Chinese culture itself.

After You Read

Knowledge Focus

1.Answer the following questions.

1)How do you understand the adaptability of Chinese food?

2)What traditional Chinese food can you think of?Would you like to talk about its cultural elements?

3)Does your family use some food therapies?Can you share some with the class?

2.Tell whether the following statements are true or false.Write T if the statement is true and F ifitis false.

1)In China,people in coastal areas eat more seafood and aquatic products,whereas those in central and northwest China eat more domestic animals and poultry.

2)Generally speaking,Chinese foodis“sweet in the south,sour in the north,spicy in the west,and salty in the east.”

3)According to traditional Chinese medicine,foods can be divided into four categories of cool,warm,hot and moderate foods.

4)In ancient China,the most important guest sat facing the south atbanquets or formal dinners.

3.Fillin theblanks withtheinformation youhave gotfrom Text A.

1)In the Chinese cuisine,the complete presence of color,aroma and taste is very important.“Aroma”implies not only the___of the dish,but also the___of the materials and the___ofseasonings.

2)The term___may refer to a person with refined or discriminating taste or to one that is knowledgeable in the art offood and food preparation.

3)___in Traditional Chinese Medicine(TCM)is a specialty that concerns the study of how to make good use of foods and natural nutriments as well as Chinese medicine to preserve health,prevent and heal diseases,quicken recoveries,and slow down aging.

4)According to TCM theory,the body has two vital and opposite life forces, yin and yang .The proper circulation and balance of the yin and yang ensures the healthy circulation of blood and thus good health;___may cause ill health.Foods are able to balance Yin and Yang in the body.

5)One important feature of Chinese food habits that contributes to their notable adaptability is the large number and great variety of___foods.

6)It is said that chopsticks reflect gentleness and benevolence,the main moral teachings of____.

7)Black sesame has a high content ofpotassium so that eating certain amount ofblack sesame can help to expel sodium from the body and reduce____.

4.Translate the following expressions into Chinese.

1)“sweet in the south,salty in the north,sour in the west,and spicy in the east.”

2)“land ofceremony and propriety”

3)Dim Sum

4)to counterbalance the yin and yang disequilibrium

5)“Good medicine tastes bitter”

6)differential diagnosis

Language Focus

1.Fillin theblanks withthe following words or expressions youhavelearnedin Text A.

1)Flowers portray love,happiness,joy and all the other positive emotions.Since time immemorial flowers have been an___part ofevery celebration and festival.

2)Do you know which Fuwa represents the blue ring and___sports?

3) China Daily saidin an editorial Tuesday that an apology is called for,calling Cafferty“pathetic”and noting,“It is rare for the world audience to hear such a blatant discrimination against an ethnic group ofpeople with such a derogatory___.”

4)In China there is a big market for___foods.

5)___means much good for others.As such,it is a form oflove.

6)Over the years,income___in China has been widening and the society is becoming increasingly polarized.

7)“Football is like a religion to me.I worship the ball,and I treat it like a god.Too many players think of a football as something to kick.They should be taught to caress it and to treat itlike a precious___”(Pele).

8)We tried___therapy too,which we thought would work.

2.Fillin theblanks withthe correctforms of the words given.

1)By increasing the distance ofyour walks gradually and making other___(diet)adjustments,you may lose even more weight.

2)The recent month-long snow and ice-storms in China’s central,southern and eastern regions could be connected with the La Nina phenomenon,the___(climate)opposite of El Nino.

3)The world’s most deadly diseases,and the most expensive to treat,are almost completely____(prevent)justby changing diet and lifestyle.

4)“Nothing contributes so much to____(tranquil)the mind as a steady purpose”.(Mary Shelley)

5)The Beijing Olympic Torch’s stable burning technique and___(adapt)to the environment have reached a new technical level.

6)An obvious advantage of studying in group is that students have the opportunity to learn to____(social)with others.

7)Europe’s earlier industrial growth was sustained by the availability ofkey resources,____(abundance)and cheap labor,coal,iron ore,etc.

8)Many people take prescribed___(medicate)on either a short term or long term basis.

3.Matchthe words withtheir antonyms.

1)coastal

2)times ofaffluence

3)scarcity

A.hard times

B.abundance

C.central

4.Error Correction:Each of the following sentences has at least one grammatical error. Identify the errors andmake corrections.

1)Generally speaking,there are three essential factors which Chinese cooking is judged,namely“color,aroma and taste”.

2)These three essential factors are achieved by careful coordination ofa serie ofdelicate activities:selecting ingredients,mixed flavors,timing and cooking,adjustment of the heat,and lying out the food on the plate.

3)There are four major cooking styles in China:Sichuan,Canton,Shandong and Huaiyang,eachis distinctly different.

4)Dim Sum,or Yum Cha,such it is commonly referred to in English,is something like a local institution.

5)Shandong(Lu)cuisine excels with fish and seafood dishes such as sea cucumber,squirrel fish,crab and eel.

6)China has been long known as the“land ofceremony and propriety”.

7)Chinese people attach great importance with the seating order atbanquets or formal dinners.

8)In ancient times,the most honorable guest sat faced the east and the last faced the west.

9)Except the seating order,there are also rules regard the order of serving dishes and the way dishes are set on the table.

10)The overriding idea about food in China is that the kind and the amount offood one takes is intimately relevant with one’s health.

11)Knowledge of the properties offoods is contributed to disease treatment and health care.

12)Since a dish is made from a mixture of ingredients,its distinctive appearance,taste,and flavor do not depend on the exact amount ofingredients,and,in most cases,on any single item.

13)Ifthe season is not quite rightly,substitutes may be used.

14)The Chinese cook the way they do because of their need and desire ofadaptability.

15)Again,with preserved foods,the Chinese people are ever ready in event of hardship or scarcity.

16)Few can take exception against the statement that few other cultures are as food-oriented as the Chinese.

Comprehensive Work

1.Pair Work: Recommend a traditional Chinese recipe to your partner in English.Tell the reasons why you think it is worth trying.Share the best recipe and your comments with the class.

2.Solo Work: Write a short passage about the differences between Chinese food and Western food.

3.Pair Work: Look at the pictures below and talk about the procedure for making jiaozi or dumplings.See who does better.

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

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