Cultural differences between China and Americadifference in culture of food中美饮食文化差异.doc

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1、Cultural differences between China and America-difference in culture of food Abstract food is the heaven to the human. Since human beings appeared on the earth millions years ago, we have had food everyday to satisfy the need of energy. Because of the influence of religion, climate, and region, diff

2、erent countries have different dietary cultures. China, which has a history longer than five thousand years, is one of the biggest countries in the world, and the United States is the super country that has a great influence to the whole world. We study these differences and then find out the points

3、 that can be digested, in order to facilitate the communication about cultures between China and the United States. By the analysis of the differences between Chinese and American dietary cultures, we can comprehend the respective cultural traditions of China and the west and we can also improve and

4、 create the new culture of China. In my paper, I would like to discuss the difference of food between the two countries. Keywords China America food Introduction Because of the long distance, the isolation of hundreds of years makes the United States and China be too much different in their cultures

5、. Although every country and society must evolve by food, food culture is not the same and the positions of food in different cultures are also diverse. China has been evolving more than five thousand years. It is the country with a large population, so it is an large agricultural country and has pl

6、enty of food resources to feed its people. So, in China, food has always being put at the highest position of the country. Differently, the United States was born and bred by polity and economy. It enjoys a excellent reputation of the high level of its polity and economy. The Americans did not pay t

7、heir whole attention to food. In the culture of America, food is just a small part of peoples daily life. The different degrees that people focus on food lead to different food cultures.Receiving the influence of respective cultural tradition, the Chinese and western dietary culture has had differen

8、t characteristics. The differences in concepts, patterns, attribution and nature reflect the different dietary cultures in the different state characteristics; such characteristics enriched the research value of food culture. Studying these cultural differences, we can find out a joint to enhance th

9、e communication between China and America . It may be a great help to the communication of the Chinese and western cultures. Body1. diet idea1.1 American diet ideaWestern people usually pay attention to the calories、vitamins、proteins and so on when they enjoy their meal. In their opinion, one should

10、 choose his food only according to his need as an independent individual and the balanced requirement of all kinds of nutrients for each part of his body. Comparing with the Chinese diet, western diet tastes stereotyped, as simple as chewing the candle, but the sense tells them: We must eat them all

11、 because of the nutrition. 1.2 Chinese diet ideaWhen the western people pay more attention to the balance of nutrition, What Chinese people care about is the deliciousness of food . Chinese often use these words such as color 、smell 、flavor and shape to describe the food. In China, Chinese people re

12、gard meal as a kind of art of their life. The quality and the quantity of food represent the social status of a family, so many people use colorful and tasty food to show off when they have a party.2. diet patterns2.1 diet pattern in ChinaIn China, a celebration, no matter what, there will be only o

13、ne form, as sitting together, sharing one feast. Banquet uses round table, which has created a unity of form, which is courtesy, comity atmosphere. Dishes are in the center of the table. They are the objects for people to appreciate and taste, and they are also an intermediate of communication. Peop

14、le drink together and share the vegetables, which reflect the mutual respect among them. It can also show the virtues of comity and harmony. Although in the healthy respect, this approach has several deficiencies, it is our national happy mentality. It reflects the classical Chinese philosophy calle

15、d harmony and it is helpful for Chinese people to facilitate the collective emotional exchanges.2.2 Diet pattern in America The more obvious difference between Chinese and American dietary patterns is buffet dinner which is popular in America. This method is to display all food, and everybody picks

16、not fixed in his or her places to eat. They walk freely. This approach can provide the emotional interaction between individuals; they never need to put every word on the table. This also shows a western personality and self-respect. However, all the eating without jamming lacks the real affective t

17、one like the Chinese people. Some people want to put the buffet in the Chinese food, but I think it is not feasible. The Chinese people drink and eat around the table to show harmony and unity, but the buffet has broken such pattern. It raises the personal independence and self-mentioned at the firs

18、t place. This is the opposite of the scale of the great unity of all Chinese traditional culture.3. Diet AttributionAmerican diet tends to be scientific and rational, but the Chinese diet tends to be art and sentimental. During the underdeveloped era of diet, these two trends have only one aim to li

19、ve and never be hungry. And when the dietary culture is full developed, the tendency is shown in this different purpose: the former is in the development of nutrition, the latter is expressed as the stress on the flavor.Therefore, the focus of American diet is only the extension of the original diet

20、 practicality. The emphasis on the flavor of Chinese cuisine caters the diet to the arts field. In China, eating is not meant to have enough. Sometimes we eat though we are full. We are overloaded with food. Why? Saying bluntly, it is to appreciate the art of cooking. Compared to the rational diet i

21、n the United States, it is not only waste, but also harmful to the humans body. 4. Diet tableware 4.1 the differences of the diet tablewareIn the space of diet tableware, the diet cultural differences are more obvious. As we know, Chinese people including some Asian countries, use chopsticks, spoon.

22、 When they have a meal also use bowl. But how about Americans? They use plate, knife and fork to eat, there use specialized spoon to drink soup. Chopsticks and knife, fork are two kinds of representative tableware of the east and the west. They affected the different lifestyles of China and America,

23、 representing two kinds of different wisdom. 4.2 the development of fork and knifeAs we know, the emergence of knife and fork is much later than chopsticks, it was originally the ancient nomadic origin and the European lifestyle; they carry knives to live, and often cooked the meat, then cut off to

24、eat. After settle the city, the knives and forks into the family kitchen, at this time, people just do not have to carry them. Western people have been using knife and fork just for four or five hundred years of history. Compared with the simple chopsticks, knife and fork are much more sophisticated

25、. 4.3 the advantage of chopsticks Different people have different views, it is difficult to draw the conclusions that the relationship of thinking method between chopsticks and knife and fork. However, there is scientific basis of using chopsticks is better training your thinking ability. From a phy

26、siological point of view, when you eating with chopsticks, it affect the human body of thirty joints and fifty muscles. So, stimulating the activity of brain systems, it brings agility and quick thinking. There is no doubt that the chopsticks have the scientific principles.ConclusionBy the text from

27、 this thesis, we can easily find that there still existing various differences between Chinese and American dietary cultures. But with the development of cultural communication between China and the United States and along with the strengthening of communication between China and the United States,

28、China has imported various kinds of western food, such as the KFC DICOS, McDonald. These are new marks which represent western food culture exchanges and infiltration. The impact brought by economic globalization is stronger and deeper than the internationalization. Economic globalization is a doubl

29、e-edged sword. On one hand, it brings the vitality of economic growth, on the other hand, the dominant culture has been put into other countries through strong economic and infiltrated every corner of the globe. Therefore, the cultural communication focus on how to assimilate advantages of the other

30、 countries culture, abandon its shortcoming, and learn how to transform and make it localized. All countries need to study the issue. So in the face of the dietary cultural exchange problems between China and the America, we should find each ones advantages and draw the mutual advantages. When China

31、 can learn from the point that western diet stresses nutrition match, Chinese people make the Chinese cuisine more outstanding. China is the country of a long history with an ancient culture and various cultural traditions. She feeds the 1.4 billion Chinese people, and Chinese culture is very inclus

32、ive. In the course of development, it absorbed a lot of different cultures. Moreover, now China does more efforts to draw all the outstanding achievements in the World. Chinas reform and opening up policy created the conditions on international relations and cultural exchanges. We need to use such an opportunity to absorb the excellent cultures from other countries, to develop and create Chinas new culture. This work can make the world to know China better and let China go to the world.ReferencesBDD