China Loves Food

I wrote the following entry my last semester in college as I was preparing for my year here in China. Since it is almost Thanksgiving in America, I thought this entry on food would be appropriate. After living here, I have found that it is mostly accurate in defining the Chinese relationship with food. Now, just so you don’t think I’m being lazy by inserting this old article, after being here for three months, I do have some observations to add on to the end of this entry.

"Fashion is in Europe, living is in America, but eating is in China"

I didn’t have to dig very deep in Chinese culture to realize the importance of food. Americans are very good at eating a lot of food, but for the Chinese food is more than just something to satisfy hunger or pleasure. Food for the Chinese is symbolic; it is emotional; it is ritualistic; it is curative; it is spiritual; it is even political. Food cannot just be eaten; it must be eaten the right way. We talk about the need to eat healthy in America, but the importance of food to one’s health is almost a form of religion in China. After reading numerous articles about food in China, I now understand what my Chinese friend here at Centenary meant when she said that in China, food is eaten mainly for its nutritional value—the more nutritious, the more of a delicacy it is. When she was describing this concept she mentioned two dishes which fall into this delicacy category: shark fin soup and bird’s nest soup. I didn’t quite understand at the time why these two dishes were seen as particularly nutritious until I ran into this statement in Kathy Lin’s article about Chinese food and culture:
“Chinese culture believes that "yi xing bu xing," which means by using any shape or part of the animal the same part of the human body can be replenished and strengthened. For example, shark fin soup and bird nest soup (bird's saliva) is served to replenish strength and increase appetite, crocodile meat strengthens the bronchia, dehydrated tiger testicle increases stamina for men, while monkey brains add wisdom. These foods are considered to be delicacies and tonics.”
From my American perspective, I don’t know if replenishing my strength and appetite is worth eating bird’s saliva. On the other hand, at least the Chinese have a practical reason for eating what they eat whereas many Americans just eat because it tastes good, which sounds indulgent and unnatural.
There is another Chinese food concept that meshes a little better with my American background and that is the idea of a balanced diet. Of course, balance for the Chinese is at a whole different level than the idea of balance found in America. Central to the preparation of food in China is the idea of balance between Yin and Yang. Kathy Lin says in her article:
Chinese culture believes there is a positive energy and a negative energy in the universe. "Yin" represents negative energy and "yang" represents positive energy.3 They have to be equally balanced to create a harmonious and healthy state, otherwise, conflict and disease will be created.
The result is that Chinese food is often a combination of both sweet and spicy elements in order to promote balance. Also similar to this idea is the “division between fan, grains and other starch foods, and ts’ai, vegetable and meat dishes. To prepare a balanced meal, it must have an appropriate amount of both fan and ts'ai” (Chang). The Chinese believe that the balancing of these elements is not only essential to physical health, but also mental health. Eating food the right way leads to healthier and happier lives and relationships with those around you. Kathy Lin points out that the “Chinese not only enjoy eating but believe eating good food can bring harmony and closeness to the family and relationships.”
This statement about the importance of food to family reminds me of a 1994 movie I watched directed by Ang Lee, an Academy Award-winning film director from Taiwan, called “Eat, Drink, Man, Woman.” The opening scene of the movie takes place in modern Taipei, Taiwan, in the home of an older man who is meticulously preparing a traditional Chinese meal. Later, we discover that he is a former master chef and a widower with three grown daughters, and this meal is in preparation for their dinner together. However the dinners are not scenes of harmony and closeness that they are supposed to be. The father, Chu, has begun to lose touch with his three grown and mostly independent daughters, which is symbolized by the fact that he has begun to lose his sense of taste as well. The dinner, as a result, reflects the disharmony within the family. With age, the loss of his wife, the growing independence of his daughters, and the failing health of his best friends, Chu begins to question the foundation of existence—love and food. He says at one point to his best friend, “Eat, drink, man, woman. Basic human desires. Can't avoid them. All my life, that's all I’ve ever done. It pisses me off. Is that all there is to life?” The result of this loss of faith in food, family, and love, is reflected in the meals he prepares.
Another theme that adds to the disharmony in the family is the clashing of the traditions of the past and the modernization of the present. Chu lives in a traditional courtyard style home that is rare among all of the new apartment complexes where most of the younger generation lives. His daughters, who are part of this younger generation, especially represent this modernization. The oldest daughter has become a Christian, a recently new development in China. The middle daughter works at a big corporation, and is in the process of buying her own apartment. The youngest daughter works at the fast-food chain—a far cry from her father’s traditional Chinese restaurant. Despite these differences, between past and present, however, there is a sense that the younger generation still values the cooking traditions of the past. This is represented in the middle daughter, who loves to cook just like her father. By the end of the movie, through her love of cooking and her love for her father, she is able to bring back his sense of taste with her soup. She discovers a balance between the old and the new, and finally brings the family into harmony once again. More than half of the scenes in the movie involve food, and the movie begins with food and ends with food. There is no way to overlook the importance of food in Chinese society after watching this movie.

References:
Lin, Kathy. “Chinese Food Cultural Profile.” Ed. Nadine Chan. Harborview Medical Center/University of Washington. Seattle, 2000. 1 May 2008. .
Chang, K.C. Food in Chinese Culture: Anthropological and Historical Perspectives, New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1977. 1 May 2008<>.

After living here for three months, I have seen proof of this obsession over food. One of the first compliments I received from the other Chinese teachers at my school: We like you much better than last year’s teacher. You eat Chinese food. She did not like Chinese food. We all like you very much. So, I passed the likeness test with flying colors because I could stomach seaweed soup, oily vegetables, and unknown pieces of chicken. That is the power of food. Next I learned that “Ni chi le ma?” (have you eaten) is a common greeting akin to the American “how are you?” because it just a manner of checking up on how you are doing. It doesn’t really imply that you want the person to go to dinner with you if they have not eaten; it is just a way to check on a person’s wellbeing. My Chinese class teacher informed us that not too long ago, probably during her grandparents’ generation, many people in China were starving. So, to ask someone “have you eaten (today)” was a way to check up on them.

My Chinese class teacher also informed us as we were going over the “at a restaurant” chapter of our Chinese book that “Chinese people eat anything that walks, swims, flies, crawls…we eat everything.” I don’t know if this stems from the starvation factor, but I sure hope so. Why else would you eat a dung beetle or stinky tofu (trust me you never want to smell the stuff)? Of course there is the “it’s good for your health” explanation. I hear it everyday. Eat your seaweed; it’s good for your skin. Eat the pig feet; they are good for your complexion. Eat the bitter melon; it keeps you from getting sick. I could go on, but I will spare you. Every single dish has some sort of health explanation behind it.

The average Chinese person may not preach about balance and the yin and yang of food, but they all have the staunch belief that all Chinese food is in some way beneficial to your health. As for Western food, they see it as junk food that is bad for your health because their concept of Western food is McDonald’s and KFC. Junk food or not, McDonald’s and KFC are on every street corner, and Chinese people love them. I guess everyone needs to be unhealthy every once in a while.

I thought about what Chinese people would think of the food we brought for our potluck Thanksgiving dinner Sunday night. Would they think it was health food or junk food? Would we pass the yin and yang test? I think probably not when I envision my plate full of mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, stuffing, bread, green beans, turkey, cranberry sauce, macaroni and cheese, cookies, cheesecake, ice cream…and I don’t remember the rest. Since I’m in China, though, I would like to pretend that each dish has its unscientifically proven benefits. Let’s see, WWCS? (What Would the Chinese Say?)…eating mashed potatoes is good for your teeth, sweet potatoes are good for your sore throat, stuffing is good for your stomach, green beans are good for your hair, turkey is good for your skin, cranberry sauce is good for your complexion, macaroni and cheese is good for your immune system, and eating cookies, cheesecake and ice cream is good for your big toe. Whew! I don’t know how they come up with so many health explanations. That’s probably why half the things I eat are good for my skin and the other half are good for my hair. Sadly my hair and skin have not miraculously changed since eating seaweed soup three times a week.

So maybe our Thanksgiving food would not pass the health test, but I think the Chinese would understand the gathering of a family over a big meal. We are alike in that way. We both know that good food brings people together. So all of you back home make sure to chow down on your turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce over Thanksgiving dinner with family and friends while I sit down to my pig feet, rice, and seaweed soup with my fellow Chinese teachers.