Posted 2017/7/30
For Chinese people, food involves not only three meals a day to allay thirst and hunger, but also has great cultural significance. For example, a newborn baby’s relatives eat red eggs to celebrate the birth. In this tradition, eggs (egg sounds like birth in Chinese) represent the continuation of life, and eating eggs bears a wish to carry on the family line.
Having a special meal is a must on a baby’s first birthday, eighteenth birthday, at marriage, and even more so on the sixtieth birthday. It is important to note that while eating can satiate physical needs, it is not the main point on these occasions. China’s food culture has far stretched beyond eating itself, with a wider and deeper social connotation.
Exchanges with the Western world have added new features to China’s food culture. For example, people have begun paying attention to the nutritional content of food, separate from its color, aroma, flavor and shape. It is heartening that the culinary procedures of Ten Bowls and Eight Plates have been reformed. However, to improve, develop and reserve its vitality, China’s food culture needs a pivotal strength in its interaction with those of other countries. That strength is the fine qualities of traditional culture, which needs to be absorbed by China’s food culture.
