Differences Between Chinese Culture and North American Culture – Food Style.doc

differences between chinese culture and north american culture food stylebefore i came to north america, i had been living in china for twenty years. i was born in xining, qinghai province, and also grew up in there. my family members were from different parts of china. my moms hometown is at the huabei plain which is the north side of the yellow river. however, my father grew up in nanjing, the famous city which locates beside the yangzi river. most of people in southern china are used to have rice as their daily main food resource, but northern china mostly has wheat. but no matter which part of china, meat is not the major food for us. chinese people always believe that rice, wheat, vegetable, fruit are the best for our health. in contrast, meat would give more troubles to our health, for example, heart attack, high blood pressure, and etc. after i came to america, i found that people mostly have meat as their food resource. the most important is that they mostly have beef, chicken, shrimp, turkey, instead of pork and lamb. in restaurants, you can easily find hamburger, steak, ribs with a little rice and a piece of bread. i believe that the food style gives american people much more energy than we have. they are much stronger than us. that is the fact! i have heard of an interesting story about yao ming, who is one of the famous nba player right now. during his first season in nba, millions of people are attracted by his height and his cute smile. however, he is not strong enough to play nba game yet! he ever told the reporter that he likes to have soup that his mom makes for him. soup could not help him, only steak, cheese, butter could make him stronger and gives him more energy. in order to increase his competition, he has to be used to american food style! even though i have lived in america for ten years now, i still love my chinese food. they are not only the food, but culture. i would never give it up. meanwhile, i have become to be more used to american food as well.“custom is the great guide of human life”, wrote scottish philosopher david hume. knowing the customs of a country is, in effect, a guide to understanding the soul of that country and its people. as a foreign language leaner, we should know the culture in our target languages country. only in this way, we can really learn the language well.people express their culture through traditions in food, clothing, recreation, and ceremonies; through the education system and institutions of learning, including museums and libraries; and through the arts, encompassing the visual, literary, and performing arts. as a result, we will talk about the differences from some aspects.first, i will mention the addressing. in china, we will put the family names before our given names, and then in order to express our politeness, we would like to add “sir” or “lady” or their title after the name. on contrast, in america, people would like to put their family names after their given names and first names and they will put mr., mrs., miss, ms, dr. or prof. before their names. it is foremost and first for us to know these differences so that we wont make misunderstandings.it is great honor to meet an american friend , but dont be frightened by their warm embrace. this is their common way to express their warmth and friendliness. in china, people dont make embraces to express those feelings. quite often we will shake our hands. we should learn the proper way to express our friendliness in different countries.and then we will talk about time conceptions. in america, their living beat is quite fast, so they consider time is quite precious. so, when they accept an invitation, they would try their best not to be late, but they also dont go early to the inviters, as this is considered to be impolite, and it seems to disturb the inviters preparation. in china, we should also not be late for the inviters. however, in order to show our thanks and politeness, we would go to the inviters house to help them prepare the meals and then we will have a happy time together. to open a conversation, people in different countries have different ways. in china, when people meet their friends by chance, they will say.” where are you going?” or “ have you eaten?” and then they will go on talking about other things. but if you do this in america, you will be misunderstood that you want to invite him or her. americans would like to say,” beautiful day, isnt it?” to open a conversation even sometimes it is raining. it is not because the americans can predict the weather but for the sake of customs.let me come to the aspect of eating. chopsticks are used for all meals in china. food is placed at the center of the table and may include more than one type of main dish to be eaten with rice. all the food will be shared by all the persons and wont be divided into several helps. while in america, they would use forks and knives for their meals. every person has his own dishes and they wont share one dish together. they think this is quite hygienic and they will enjoy their meals comfortably. however, what they eat is not so healthy, because they would like to eat a lot of meat and something with high calorie. maybe it is good for them to obtain more fibers and keep a healthy body.finally, i would like to mention something about the difference in marriage. besides the ceremony for marriage has obvious difference-americans will hold it in a church, while chinese will hold it in a hotel inviting their relatives and friends to have dinner-their marriage notion has quite a lot of differences, too. above all, i would like to give a case to you. a 28-year-old girl, who was studying in new york, said she never thought his husband wanted to divorce with her without any specific reason after their one-year marriage. she asked him why he did so. he said he didnt love her any more. then she questioned him didnt he always said he loved her a lot. he said,” at that time i loved you, so i married you; but now i dont love you any longer, so i want to divorce with you.” she was very angry and thought he had cheated her, but in her husbands opinion, he treated her so honestly that he would divorce with her. in this story lies a different marriage notion. americans pursuit the true love, no matter they are married or not. once they find there is no love between the husband and the wife, they will choose to divorce. in china, however, people pursuit the completeness of the family. they think divorce is the last way to solve the family problem. we think we have the responsi