Think Chinese take away - think again
Think high class Chinese restaurant prices - think again...
Even in Shanghai and Beijing a party of 6 can eat a full range of Chinese food
and pay less than the price of 2 in most cities in the west!
You can order, just about anything from the picture menu and just try it -
if you don't like it, they can just remove it from your table to alow more space!
Prices outside the main city tourist areas are make you feel like a millionaire -
with traditional waitresess that are not pretentious.
How to oder a chinese meal (IF they don't speak English well):
Ni hao, ("Nee how" ... Hello!), Jay ger ([Mick] "Jay ger" ... This one - Point at the photograph!)
Then Mai Dan ("My Dan" ... Bill please)
& finally xi xie ("Share, share" .. Thank you) - its as easy as that...
CHINESE FOOD examples:
Chinese Dumpling
People in northern China
typically will eat dumplings (jiaozi) on Chinese New Year's Eve.
This occurs because
'jiaozi' sounds like a word meaning 'bidding farewell to the old and ushering
in the new.' in Chinese. Dumplings are always made before midnight and eaten
during the last hour of the old year and the first hour of the Lunar New Year.
Some Chinese like to wrap a one-yuan, ten pence/ fifty-cent or ten-cent coin in some of
the dumplings,
as a token of good fortune for those who eat them – this
is said to ensure good luck and prosperity in the New Year.
Fish
(Braised Pomfret, Tangba
Town's Stir-fried Fish, Steamed
Perch)
In China, fish, usually of a local variety, is an important item on the dinning
table of thousands of families on the eve of the Spring Festival. Fish is
pronounced 'yu' in Chinese, with the implications of having more than just a
basic need each year. It is also a festival present exchanged between relatives
and friends during the Chinese New Year. In southern China, some people just eat the
middle part of the fish on the New Year Eve, leaving the head and tail to the
next day to symbolize completeness. Meanwhile, it is particularly important
that when fish is placed on the dining table, its head must be at the elders,
as a sign of respect.
Laba Porridge
Eating Laba Porridge also named 'Eight Porridge' is the focal point of the
celebration on Laba Festival, the day when Sakyamuni became Buddha.
Chinese folk cook the porridge specially to offer sacrifices to the divinities
and ancestors to pray for bountiful harvests and auspicious events in the
coming year on the day. Originally, the porridge was made with rice and red
beans. Now, the main ingredients are various types of rice and millet and a
wide assortment of nuts and dried fruits, all being very nutritious. The
porridge cooks all night long and has an enticing aroma that can be savoured
from a great distance.
Chinese Moon Cake
Offering sacrifices to the moon, eating moon cakes and watching the moon are
the main activities on Mid-Autumn Day. Moon cakes are usually
round-shaped, representing family reunion and bright life. They are made with a
sweet bean-paste filling, and a golden brown flaky skin, but nowadays, there
are more than a dozen variations, including bean paste, yolk paste, coconut
paste, five-core paste and so on. To make them attractive, some clever cooks
decorate the moon cakes by drawing the pattern of 'Chang Er's Flying to the
Moon'.
Niangao
(Chinese Rice Cake)
Unlike northern China,
southern China
produces rice, so traditionally the southern Chinese usually eat Niangao (rice
cakes) to celebrate the New Year. This belief derives from the Chinese
pronunciation of rice cake as 'niangao', a homophone for a word meaning a
higher level of life. Niangao is made of glutinous rice powder and can be
cooked by frying, steaming, stir-frying or boiling. With the development of the
social culture, eating Niangao is also popular now among some northern Chinese
during the Spring Festival.
Spring
Rolls
Spring Rolls also named Spring Cakes by some northern Chinese, have a long
history in China.
It’s said that as early as in the Eastern Jin Dynasty (316-420), Chinese people
would eat 'Spring Plate', a dish with thin flour-made cakes at the centre of
the plate and green vegetables around them, on the First Day of Spring every
year. Along with the development of the cooking techniques, 'Spring Cakes' have
been evolved into the present lovely golden spring rolls made of thin flour
wrappers with various fillings – sweet or savoury, meat or vegetables. Much nicer in China - even on street stalls.
Yuanxiao
Since the Song Dynasty (960-1279), Chinese people have had the custom of dining
on traditional Chinese fare highlighted by 'Yuanxiao' on the Lantern Festival which
is also called Yuanxiao Festival in China. Yuanxiao is a kind of rice
dumpling made of glutinous rice powder and wrapped with various fillings like
bean paste, brown sugar and all kinds of fruits and nuts. People eat these on
the last day of the Spring Festival, since they are also named 'tangyuan' or
'tuanyuan' among the Chinese folk, pronounced like 'tuanyuan' (reunion) in
Chinese.
Zongzi
Throughout the country families will eat 'zongzi' to memorize the national hero
Qu Yuan (he ended his life by drowning in the Miluo River
on hearing his state was defeated.) on the Dragon Boat Festival, the day of Qu
Yuan's death. Zongzi is pyramid-shaped dumplings made of glutinous rice
and wrapped in bamboo or reed leaves, usually made into sweet with Chinese
dates in northern China.
However, it can be either sweet or savoury and made from a great variety of
ingredients besides glutinous rice, such as meat, shrimp, bean paste and nuts
in southern China.
DID YOU KNOW?
Chinese food can be very sugary especially Chinese 'snacks'
Many Chinese eat icecream at anytime, even in Winter
Most Chinese prefere to visit Chinese tourist sites, during cooler seasons