Another View

By Submitted Article

Opinion250  has invited Ning Ma, a Chinese student studying English at UNBC, to  write a weekly  article for  us.   We thought this would be helpful  to Ning as he strives to  improve his English skills, and  helpful to us  as we can see how others view Prince George, B.C. and Canada.    Consider this an educational opportunity for  all involved, and that is why we won't be inviting comment on this weekly submission. We are interested in  your thoughts on things Ning should  experience  and write about.    We are also  providing  the same article in Mandarin as an opportunity for Ning's family and friends to learn more about us.

-Elaine Macdonald  

More differences in "eating"

 
Last time I talked about the differences in "eating system" between China and Canada and this time I would talk about "eating"again.

China and Canada eat different types of food and the order of eating is different too. So this time I will talk about these things.

There are two different types of Chinese foods. One is a hot dish and one is a cold dish.

Preparing the cold dish is a simpler process and includes appetizers. Portions of cold dishes are smaller than the hot dishes.

Processing hot dishes is more complex than cold dishes and uses more time for cooking.

When hot dishes are ready they must be put on the table very soon because it must be and stay hot when people eat them. Hot food is very important in one dinner and is more delicious than cold dishes. The number of hot dishes and cold dishes usually has a ratio of four to six.

( at right, Ning and a friend are at a table where the guesshare a meal of full roasted lamb in a restaurant in China)

If Chinese people eat in a Chinese restaurant they will order a lot of dishes and usually the number of dishes are more than the people's number two or three. Chinese people have the fixed order of taking from dishes on the table. Usually the first is the cold dish and later comes the hot dish, finally is soup and staple food.

Chinese people almost always have staple food in one dinner. If they do not have staple food they will not have a sense of being full.

Generally the staple food is a crop like rice or noodles because in Chinese tradition the staple food is major source of nutrition in one day and the rice crop is the largest proportion of food in China. The Chinese economy grew in recent years so having meat in the diet of the Chinese people is increasing. Also, the rate of crop production is getting smaller and smaller, but the status of staple foods has not been exceeded by meat.

Chinese people like drinking in a banquet and making a toast to other people is very common. When a toast is made to someone else, if this person receiving the toast does not drink that will result in the person who proposed the  toast to lose face, so usually people will drink it even they don¡¯t want to drink. This rule is an advantage for people who can drink a lot. But it is a bad thing for people who don¡¯t like drinking so sometime people get drunk because of this. I do not like this rule of forced drinking because I think if l make some person drank without wanting to then that is truly bad mannered.

Chinese people generally do not eat dessert after dinner.  They aren¡¯t like Canadian people who will eat a number of small desserts like ice cream or biscuits after dinner, but sometimes Chinese people like to eat some fruits after dinner. Chinese people think this way is healthy.

New Year is approaching, the next time I will tell you about the New Year in China and introduce people to the Chinese zodiac.

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