CultureFood and Drink
Food culture is an important part of Chinese tradition, and it can be traced back to about 500,000 years ago when Beijing Man first learned to cook his food over fire. To the Chinese people, having three meals a day transcends the nutritional needs of hunger and thirst. Daily meals involve the very philosophies of existence. For example, when a child is born, his relatives will eat eggs, which symbolize the continuation of lives; during the Spring Festival, Chinese people will eat rice cake named 'niangao', representing a higher level of life; on the Mid-autumn Day, they will eat moon cakes to celebrate the birthday of the moon. Meanwhile, food is also a medium of emotional communication that implies certain kinds of distinct social activities. The Chinese are quite comfortable in engaging in numerous pursuits while eating, ranging from doing business and interviews, exchanging ideas, making friends and entertaining guests, even adjusting attitudes and resolving disputes.
Tea: Helping to transmit Chinese culture to the world, enjoyed a more than 4,000 years history, in accordance with Luyu, the writer of the book Tea Classics in the Tang Dynasty. As the home country of tea, China has had thousands of years' experience of tea production and tea drinking. Nowadays, enjoying drinking tea and treating guests to tea have been elegant entertainment and communication activities for Chinese people.
Alcohol is part of Chinese folklore. It still appears in almost all social activities, and the most common circumstances are birthday party for seniors, wedding feast and sacrifice ceremony in which it must be the main drink to show happiness or respect.
