Tea and Tea Culture (Chá hé cháwénhuà 茶和茶文化)|Chá hé cháwénhuà 茶和茶文化 (Tea and Tea Culture)
Paul D. BUELL A woman picks tea leaves at the Dragon Well Tea Commune in Hangzhou, 1978. PHOTO BY JOAN
Chopsticks (Kuàizǐ 筷子)|Kuàizǐ 筷子 (Chopsticks)
Haiwang YUAN A pair of chopsticks decorated with cloisonné enamel, and held in the traditional manner. Diners in Westernized Chinese
Tofu (Dòufu 豆腐)|Dòufu 豆腐 (Tofu)
Paul D. BUELL Tofu (bean curd) serves as a protein- rich meat substitute, and is an inexpensive and popular staple
Health, Nutrition, and Food (Jiànkāng yíngyǎng shíwù 健康营养食物)|Jiànkāng yíngyǎng shíwù 健康营养食物 (Health, Nutrition, and Food
Traditionally, Chinese food was healthy, mainly because millennia of famine led people to learn by trial and error how to eat to survive. But the Chinese diet has changed with modernization, as more fats and sugars have become available. Traditional nutritional medicine worked well to remedy certain deficiencies, despite being based on concepts very different from those accepted today.
Cuisines (Pēngrèn 烹饪)|Pēngrèn 烹饪 (Cuisines)
Chinese cuisines were developed partly as ways of maximizing security in a world of scarcity and frequent famine, but also responded to the desires of the well-to-do to show off wealth and sophistication. Grain staples are basic, but the distinctive elements are flavorings, including soy sauces, Chinese “wine,” ginger, onion relatives, and peppers. Regional variation is enormous, with four to five major culinary areas and many minority cuisines.