What is “culture”? Actually, it is really a large and evasive concept, very complex and difficult to define. Sometimes, we say that people who know music, art and literature are cultured. However, for anthropologists, the word “culture” has a different meaning. To an anthropologist, the word “culture” means all the ways that a group of people think, feel, and behave. It is said that there are more than one hundred and sixty definitions of culture, but none of them seems to be able to tell us everything about culture. The Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English gives such an explanation of culture: the customs, beliefs, art, music, and all the other products of human thought made by a particular group of people at a particular time. Useem. J, &Useem R (1963) said: “Culture has been defined in a number of ways, but most simply, as the learned and shared behavior of a community of interacting human beings.” And Damen, L. (1987) said: “Culture: learned and shared human patterns or models for living; day-to-day living patterns. These patterns and models pervade all aspects of human social interaction. Culture is mankind’s primary adaptive mechanism”. In my opinion, culture is everything, including beliefs, habits, living patterns, behaviors, art, clothes…It is created by human, it is a special existing way of human, is a human common wealth. Since we human beings are brought up in cultures, we are influenced by them at any time. Form birth to death, cultures play an integral part in our life. The human’s existence and development differ from regions and races. As a result, different nations hold different cultures, and each culture presents various styles and each culture contains special features. And the culture is based on many things that are passed from one generation to the next. When it comes to the cultural difference of people there are no right or wrong. People should be aware of other culture and respect the differences between them.

This time I want to talk something about our Chinese traditional culture, which is broad and deep with long standing history. Chinese culture is a complete system, including its own philosophy, literature and arts, medicine, technology and science as well as language and festivals. All of these are quite different from other civilizations, especially from the Christian culture. Chinese culture is originated from its agriculture, and as a result of its developed agriculture and imperial system, which lasted about 5,000 years. Food is the first necessity of the people. So I’ll talk something about Chinese dining culture.

Chinese like to cook and eat, and pay more attention to eating. People usually greet each other with the sentence: “Have you eaten?” instead of “How are you?” When people get married, they’ll celebrate it with a dinner; when people build new buildings, they’ll celebrate it with a dinner; even when old people die, their relatives will also celebrate it with dinners (sometimes for three days). Chinese dishes are the most delicious dishes in the word. And Chinese dare to eat almost everything---any life flying in the sky or running on the ground. Chinese culinary arts are famous all over the world. Chinese dishes appeal to the senses through color, shape, aroma and taste. Chinese cuisine's entree normally strives for three to five colors, made up of the main ingredient, with more secondary ingredients of contrasting colors and textures; these are prepared and cooked to enhance their own qualities, with the use of appropriate condiments and garnishing, enabling to chef to present a delicious platter of fragrant delicious art. In prepared dishes, the stronger fragrant aroma stimulates one's appetite, by using scallion, fresh ginger, root garlic or chili pepper; with the use of wine, aniseed, cinnamon, peppercorn or sesame oil. Complementary nuances are added. Soy sauce, sugar, vinegar and other seasonings may be used discreetly, adding to the complex play on the taste buds. Chinese food enjoys a high reputation in the world also for its sheer abundance. It is due to the diversity of the climate, products and customs that there are widely different food styles and tastes in local regions. For local styles, Beijing cuisine combines the best features of different regional styles. Shangdong cuisine leads the Northern dishes. Shangdong cooks are good at cooking seafood. Sichuan cooks specialize in chilies and hot peppers and Sichuan dish is famous for aromatic and spicy sauces. Guangdong cooking makes use of many ingredients. They look for fresh, tender, crisp textures. Huaiyang cuisine stresses the natural flavors. Dishes are strong but not greasy, and light but delicate. Tan cuisine is both sweet and salty. There is a saying that "southerners have a sweet tooth, and northerners crave salt", but Tan dishes manage to satisfy both. Because China's local dishes have their own typical characteristics, Chinese food can be divided into eight regional cuisines, the distinction of which is now widely accepted. Shandong Cuisine consists of Jinan cuisine and Jiaodong cuisine, Shandong cuisine, clean, pure and not greasy, is characterized by its emphasis on aroma, freshness, crispness and tenderness. Sichuan Cuisine is one of the most famous Chinese cuisines in the world. Characterized by its spicy and pungent flavors, Sichuan cuisine, with a myriad of tastes, emphasizes the use of chili. Guangdong Cuisine tastes clean, light, crisp and fresh, Guangdong cuisine, familiar to Westerners, usually has fowl and other meats that produce its unique dishes. Fujian Cuisine combines Fuzhou Cuisine, Quanzhou Cuisine and Xiamen Cuisine, Fujian Cuisine is renowned for its choice seafood, beautiful color and magical tastes of sweet, sour, salt and savory. The most distinct feature is their "pickled taste". Jiangsu Cuisine, also called Huaiyang Cuisine, is popular in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. Using fish and crustaceans as the main ingredients, it stresses their freshness. Zhejiang Cuisine comprises local cuisines of Hanzhou, Ningbo, and Shaoxing. Zhejiang Cuisine is not greasy. It wins its reputation for freshness, tenderness, softness, and smoothness of its dishes with their mellow fragrance. Hangzhou Cuisine is the most famous one of the three. Hunan Cuisine consists of local cuisines of Xiangjiang Region, Dongting Lake and Xiangxi coteau areas. It is characterized by thick and pungent flavors. Chili, pepper and shallot are usually necessities in this variation.

China is a country that attaches great importance to names, honor, and prestige. During the period of the Qin and Han Dynasties dishes were named for their major ingredients and cooking methods. During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, some dishes received fancy names. When ordinary dishes were given beautiful names, it raised the attractiveness of the dishes and made diners happy. For example, sliced fish mixed with orange was called “powdered gold and minced jade,” camels’ foot simmered with hearts of rape was called “desert boat sails on green,” quail and its eggs cooked together was called “mother and children get together,” chicken cooked with bear’s paw was called “palm controls the land,” a dish of shrimp, sliced tender bamboo shoots and mushrooms was called “leaves of wind, frost and snow,” a dish of sea cucumber, prawns, chicken breast, white fungus, and water chestnuts was called “butterflies swarm the peonies,” and a dish of chicken and soft-shelled turtle was called “Xiang Yu the Conqueror says goodbye to his concubine.” Fancy names reminded people of other things during the banquets and created a pleasant dining atmosphere.

Just as the ingredients of each dish and presentation is important, table manners and courtesy among diners are very much part of the Chinese cultural tradition. Only by combining excellent food with good manners can the high art of Chinese cuisine be truly enjoyed to the full. Unlike the western style, Chinese people do not use forks and knives. We use a pair of chopsticks and spoons. Chinese food, however, seems to taste better when it is eaten with chopsticks. And there are several things to remember when you use chopsticks. Don't dig in the food on a plate but just get the piece which you want to get. Don't pick one piece then drop it back in the plate and change to another piece. Don't let your chopsticks be covered with food juice or residue. Don't use chopsticks to beat any utensils to make any noise. Don't wave your chopsticks. Don't use chopsticks like forks. Don't use chopsticks as toothpicks. Don't lick or suck your chopsticks. Don't put chopsticks vertically in rice in a bowl since it resembles the incense sticks for the dead. At Chinese meal times, Chinese people use a round or square table. The person of the most importance would usually take the seat facing the door while the youngest or the person of the least importance would take the seat closest to the door. However, if you are the host, usually you would take the seat which is closest to the walkway since it allows the most convenient movement by the host. The best dish should be put in front of the most important person in order to show your respect. If you are the guest, remember not to leave too much food behind because it would mean that you don't like the food and sample at least a bite of every dish to show the host you like the food. And you should remember to wait for the host to begin before you start eating or drinking. If a foreign guest broke one or two of these rules it’s not likely that a Chinese person would be offended. Chinese are generous to others, especially to foreigners.

And Chinese are very hospitable. When a guest comes to the home of the host, most often the host will serve the guest the most delicious food he can offer. I still remember the first time I went to my husband’s home, my parents-in-law prepared a special dinner for me. My father-in-law served me three carts which were about two inches, with his own chopsticks. It was a great honor, because the carts were their special product, and only cooked for the guest of honor. And he said, “I just made the dishes casually and they are not very tasty.” I felt very embarrassed, because the fish hadn’t been scaled, and the entrails hadn’t been taken out. Several days ago, my mother found her sister--- my aunt who had lost connection with us for ten years. She entertained my mother with a dinner which consisted of sixteen dishes. My aunt served my mother a lot of dishes with her own chopsticks and also said, “I just made the dishes casually and they are not very tasty.” But my mother could not have a bite of them. For my mother has an allergic reaction to chilli, and all the dishes had chilli in them. Form the two examples, we may also see something in Chinese dinning culture. If the meal is held in the host's home, he will himself serve his guests portions of food (traditionally with his own chopsticks), on the tacit understanding that the guests are far too polite to help themselves. However, he will not considerate whether you can eat the food or not. Using his own chopsticks means he welcomes the guest very much and accepts the guest as a member of his family. Because western customs have influenced some dining habits in China, and people pay more attention to heath, particularly after SARS, it is more common these days that people use a pair of common chopsticks for fetching the food. A western hostess, if she is complimented for her cooking skill, is likely to say, “Oh, I am so glad that you liked it. I cook it especially for you.” Not so is a Chinese or hosts or hostess, who will instead apologize for giving you “Nothing”. They will say, “I just made some dishes casually and they are not very tasty.” Perhaps the foreigner will think why you invite me to you family and have the terrible food. You aren't respecting me. Actually they are not intending to be modest with the sacrifice of friendship in so doing, but it is rather due to the traditional Chinese philosophy, that of modesty. The Chinese take pride in “modesty”. The Chinese people regard modesty as a most valuable virtue, so they seldom agree to the compliment on their own. Chinese would like to apologize for the crowded state of their dwellings and for small numbers of dishes, although the room is big enough and there are many dishes. Chinese say these to express self-depreciation only out of courtesy, not having other implication.

I am proud to be a Chinese especially proud for what we have achieved in history. I particularly wish the inner beauty of unique Chinese culture will be appreciated and be admired by more and more foreigners.