Food and festivals are unique aspects of a country. There is a proverb in China, which means “Food is what matters to the people”. Also, festival is a symbol of culture for China. It can be said that food culture and festivals play vital roles in the life of people in China.
Coufucius says that ”the path to your friend’s heart and soul begins from your cooking”. In China, food is the first necessity of the people. “China is behind in everyway with the only exception of culinary culture.” Dr. Sun Yat-sen said. Chinese cooking offers dishes that are know to be some of the most unique and tastiest. Color, smell, taste and shape all are culinary art in China. Moreover, Chinese always adorn dishes with painting, sculpture and poetry. Beijing Roast Duck is a popular dish, which is well known outside China.
Chinese dishes can be classified into eight culinary traditions, which are the “Eight Regional Cuisines”, Hunan, Sichuan, Jiangsu, Shandong, Zhejiang, Fujian, Cantonese and Anhui cuisines. In China, rice is always the staple food in the south of China, while the staple food in north of China is flour.
There are 24 solar terms in China, A “Solar Terms” means when the sun reaches one of twenty-four equally spaced points along the ecliptic, including the solstices and equinoxes, positioned at fifteen degree intervals. For instance, lichun(315’) is about February 4 and means start of spring. Yushui(330’), is about February 19 and means rain water, which start at this point, the temperature makes rain more likely than snow. Jingzhe(345’) is about March 5 and means awakening of insects, which hibernate insects awake. Chunfen(0’) is about March 21 and means vernal equinox, which the central divide of spring. Qingming(15’) is about April 5 and means clear and bright, which is also a Chinese festival traditionally to tend ancestral graves. The Chinese Zodiac is used to name the years, not to calculate time. Main festivals are determined by the