British Food Journal

Emerald Article: 1.19850+ billion mouths to feed: food linguistics and cross-cultural, cross-"national" food consumption habits in China Lauren A. Swanson

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To cite this document: Lauren A. Swanson, (1996),"1.19850+ billion mouths to feed: food linguistics and cross-cultural, cross-"national" food consumption habits in China", British Food Journal, Vol. 98 Iss: 6 pp. 33 - 44 Permanent link to this document: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/00070709610131357 Downloaded on: 04-05-2012 References: This document contains references to 36 other documents Citations: This document has been cited by 1 other documents To copy this document: permissions@emeraldinsight.com This document has been downloaded 2239 times.

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1.19850+ billion mouths to feed: food linguistics and cross-cultural, cross-national food consumption habits in China
Lauren A. Swanson Associate Director, MBA Programmes, Faculty of Business Administration, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Investigates the various major sociolinguistic subcultures of China with specic attention to their distinctive food preferences, coupled with a tradition of food symbols which interweave Chinese subcultures. Points out that, contrary to popular belief among foreign business people, there is no China market; rather, there are many diverse markets within China. Notes that there are many languages and, hence, cultures in the country, and the people do not all eat the same foods yet, at the same time, there is a rich unity of symbolic tradition associated with the foods the Chinese eat indeed, there is an elaborate food linguistic the semantics of which need to be understood by outsiders. Presents an introduction and overview of the diversity and unity of China as it relates to food, and its ndings should be of value to those working in various aspects of the food and agriculture industries who may have an interest in China markets, those interested in either importing or exporting Chinese food products, exporting food processing equipment or farming and agricultural technology, and those in the food business serving Chinese populations of signicant size around the world.
In a country with such a long history of famine (most of the 19th century) and decades of poor diet in the 20th century, nothing is more important than food (in China)[1].

Extraordinary diets
A Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) imperial feast would have included such delicacies as sea slug with pigs tendons, seaweed and shredded pigs stomach in soup, sharks skin in chicken juice, braised bears paw with carps tongues, lips of gorillas and pigs brain in wine sauce, leopards placenta steamed with camels hump garnished with slices of pear, steamed deers tail, goose feet soup, and suckling pig dry-cooked in a wok[8]. Some may nd it hard to believe, but most if not all of these dishes continue to be delicacies in parts of China today . China is a rich gastronomic culture more accurately, China encompasses many diverse gastronomic cultures. This vast country consists of many subcultures of which most Westerners and outsiders are largely unaware and uninformed. It is popular today for foreign businesses to look on China with great expectations because it is a huge market with vast numbers of people. The problem is that there is no China market per se, but rather there are many markets within China.

British Food Journal 98/6 [1996] 3344 MCB University Press [ISSN 0007-070X]

According to a recent study by brokers S.G. Warburg Securities, more than in many industries, the food processing industry represents a golden opportunity for foreign companies in China[2]. Additionally, food and drink processing accounts for about 8 per cent of the gross industrial output of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC), which ranks it as the third biggest industry in China by output value, behind textiles and machine building. The importance of food marketing in China is also underscored by its heavy weighting in the Governments consumer price index about 55 per cent of the total. There is unprecedented growth in demand for food occurring in China today[3]. Most of the growth in food demand is coming from rising affluence and an expanding Chinese population[5]. The result is that China will need to import more and more food[6], boost investment in agricultural infrastructure, invest in better irrigation, plant better varieties of crop, and employ more scientic farming and food processing methods to obtain higher yields and increase food supply . Opportunities are both ripe and great in China for domestic and international food marketers. However, companies hoping to tap Chinese food and agriculture markets effectively will need to implement innovative strategies and produce and distribute products according to regional characteristics. As Dodge suggest, Companies insensitive to the diversity of culture and climates in China would be confronted by poor market response[7]. Based on analysis of pertinent secondary sources and a qualitative survey conducted among graduate students at a major Beijing university the students were residents originating from every province in China this paper delineates food preferences for each sociolinguistic nation of China, and surveys the symbolic meaning of foods in the Chinese context.

Diversity within unity

One of the major shortcomings in understanding the Chinese has been the tendency of Westerners and other outsiders to overlook the ethnic and subethnic diversity among the enormous population of China. Some researchers may touch on the non-Han minorities of China the Tibetans and Mongolians, for example but they rarely deal with the differences among the Han Chinese (otherwise known as Sinitic peoples) who constitute about 95 per cent of the population. The many subgroups of Han speak in a tongue that often seems like a different language, and they have a wide range of cultural traditions, cuisines, lifestyles, attitudes and regionally stereotypical personal characteristics. Actually, China is several nations within one. Each nation has a capital and its own distinctive web of inuence. Several have acknowledged national poets and heroes,

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Lauren A. Swanson 1.19850+ billion mouths to feed: food linguistics and cross-cultural, cross-national food consumption habits in China British Food Journal 98/6 [1996] 3344

and characteristic mannerisms and dialects. Each has a peculiar economy and each commands a certain emotional allegiance from its citizens. For example, for the Chinese, the native place, or ancestral home, is a major part of a persons perception of self, and the ties of clan, province and dialect have a big inuence on the individuals integration into national culture. These nations look different and sound different from each other, and few of their boundaries match the political lines drawn on current maps. Some are clearly divided topographically by mountains, deserts and rivers. Others are separated by music, language, ways of making a living, cuisine and other behavioural traits and norms. The reality of the differences between Sinitic subgroups is commonly understood by the average Chinese. These differences are, however, the topic of oral more often than written discussion. Contemporary writing tends to portray the nation in terms of universals and to gloss over its diversities. Hence, one might even conclude that China is largely a monoculture a conclusion which is far from accurate. At the same time, while we explore the rich diversity within China, one must not ignore the strong traditions of cultural, symbolic and political unity that overlie that diversity . The Chinese have a great tradition of maintaining a sense of continuity; accommodating variety within the larger, unied system. The primary purpose of this study is to investigate the various sociolinguistic subcultures of China specically, their distinctive cuisines and what these foods mean symbolically . This study builds on an earlier work[9] in which the 12 nations of China are delineated along linguistic lines. The study also adds to a substantial body of recent marketing literature which appreciates the importance of product symbolism in consumer behaviour[10-19].

example, England, the United States, and Ireland all use English today as a literary written language, but they speak British, American and the brogue (when not Gaelic). They are, in fact, three separate, though related cultures. It is the spoken, not the written language that is basic[21].

This holds true for China also. Although they share a common written language, speakers of the many Sinitic sublanguages and dialects are often unable to understand each other, and there is a wide variance in the prociency of many in speaking the national common speech, Putonghua. Wherever different languages are spoken, we invariably nd signicantly different cultures. In China, these subcultures constitute sizable nations with distinctively different local cuisines, while holding many food symbolisms in common throughout China. As a result of Chinas 1978 decision to readjust its economy and adopt an open door policy, foreign contact and consequent trade has increased dramatically . Hence, there is a need to focus on better understanding the Chinese and the effects of subcultural identity on their food consumption habits. A knowledge of cultural differences in eating and food preparation habits among the Chinese is particularly critical for domestic as well as international agrimarketers.

Research method
In addition to consulting various sources of secondary data[22-26], this study is based on questioning university students and others from all walks of life from virtually every province in China, over a period of eight years residence in China. The primary sample for the study consisted of a total of 112 business graduate students enrolled at a major university in Beijing, China. The students were about evenly split between male and female, ranging in age from 24 to 40, all having a minimum of three years business experience in some organization affiliated with the Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations and Trade (MOFERT)[27]. Many of the students were employed in a province other than that of their original home. The students were selected for university admission from among applicants representing every province in China the nal class list was chosen in such a way as to include a certain proportion of students from every province. Having inter-provincial business experience, and being widely travelled in China meant that the respondents had

Language and culture

In this analysis it is well to note that even though nations share the same official language, in the sense of sharing a common written language and speaking a language that is mutually understandable (in the case of China, Northern Mandarin or Putonghua), these nations do not necessarily have the same culture[20]:
Nothing more clearly distinguishes one culture from another than its language. We sometimes confuse writing systems with the spoken language of the people . For

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above average experience of interacting with others of another national subculture in China. The study was qualitative, consisting of semi-structured, oral interviews in which each respondent was asked to describe the distinctive cuisines of each of the sociolinguistic nations of China in which they had lived or with which they were familiar, and to note the foods they were aware of which have special symbolic signicance. Responses were recorded, from which common themes and impressions eventually became evident. The food preferences and symbolic themes which emerged from these interviews constitute the ndings discussed in this paper. These ndings will be discussed after a brief overview of the linguistic background of China it is these sociolinguistic cultures the food preferences and symbolic associations of which were studied.

Background: Sinitic languages

The non-Sinitic languages and cultures of China, such as Tibetan, Mongol, Manchu, Uygur, Zhuang and the like, are the subject of many specialized studies and will not be discussed here. As for the Sinitic languages, the most northern is the Mandarin sublanguage. It, in turn, can be divided into ve major dialect groups[26]. Each, in turn, again is composed of many subdialects which are distinctive but normally mutually comprehensible. The other eight main Sinitic sublanguages of China, besides Mandarin, are found in the south. Table I lists the nine Sinitic sublanguages and the number of speakers of each based on Chinese census gures and Moser[26]. Lest one err in thinking that there is little difference among these Chinese speakers, it is well to note that, often, there is as much

Table I The Sinitic language (Han Chinese) Number of speakers (millions) 330 80 190 80 5 685 55

Sublanguage Mandarin

Dialects Northern Mandarin/Beijing North-western Mandarin South-western Mandarin Eastern Mandarin Scattered Mandarin Yuehai

Subdialects

Yue (Cantonese)

Subtotal 1. Standard Cantonese 2. Dongguan 3. Sanshui 4. Shunde 5. Zhongshan

Wu sublanguage (Shanghai area)

Xiang

Siyi Gao-Lei Guinan Qin-Lian Northern Wu Central Wu Eastern Wu South-western Wu Wenzhou (city) Shanghai (city) New Xiang Old Xiang Southern Xiang Standard Amoy (of Xiamen) Taiwanese Hainanese Chaozhou (of Shantou area)

85

50

Gan Minnan (including Taiwan and Hong Kong)

25 40

Minbei Huizhou (Wannan) Hakka (Keijia)

Total

12 4 40 996 [ 35 ]

Lauren A. Swanson 1.19850+ billion mouths to feed: food linguistics and cross-cultural, cross-national food consumption habits in China British Food Journal 98/6 [1996] 3344

difference between the Sinitic sublanguages, dialects, and even subdialects as there is between English, German, Spanish, or Italian. Among the Wu speakers, the peoples of almost every town of any size have their identiable subdialect Mutual comprehensibility can usually be estimated in terms of geographic distance inhabitants of two towns eighty miles apart may have considerable problems in understanding each other, but someone from a point halfway between might be able to converse relatively freely with both[26, p. 146]. In fact, in the Minbei-speaking county of Datian in Fujian Province, a delegation of American linguists visiting China in 1974 noted that there were three major, and over ten minor, dialects: People separated by a blade of grass could not understand each other. A cadre from the North needed three to seven interpreters to make a speech[28]. Since then, efforts to extend the use of Standard Chinese (Putonghua) in the area have improved the situation. However, while many of these language groups exploit Mandarin (Putonghua/Standard Chinese) for its economic value, it is still not their tongue.

Findings: cuisine and food symbolism among Chinas nation markets

What follows are the authors observations based on eld research, coupled with the ndings of Moser[26] and the other secondary sources previously mentioned. This study generally supports the notion that language differences among peoples coincide with cultural differences specically as regards culture-bound diets and food preparation habits. However, while there is diversity within the unity of China, the converse is also true there is a great deal of unity of food symbolism among the diverse peoples of China. What follows is a discussion of the diverse food preferences of the 12 sociolinguistic nations of China. Additionally, some of the unifying aspects of Chinese food linguistics are noted. As a necessary foundation for understanding food and Chinese culture, one should be aware that food is not simply fuel or recreation, but both medicine and message to the Chinese. Traditional Chinese medicines consist of plant and animal matter. This being so, for the Chinese, all foods are medicinal. Permeating Chinese thinking, whether Confucian, Taoist or Buddhist, is the view that the human body possesses chi vital

energy or strength[29]. Internal chi interacts with chi in the external environment (cold, warm, hot, windy, dry, wet), and is affected positively or negatively by exchanges with external chi. Maintenance of balance or harmony is the basic goal, and essential in maintaining ones balance and, hence, critical to food selection, are the opposing forces of yin and yang. The forces of yin are cooling, dark and feminine, and those of yang are heating, light and masculine. Thus, women tend naturally to be more cold and men more hot. Also, it is thought that, as one gets older, one gets colder, and therefore should avoid eating too many cold foods. Should ones body be imbalanced in the yin direction, one may be cold to the touch, lacking energy, or experience chills. Thus, consumption of hot ( ji) foods is one way of regaining equilibrium. Imbalance in the yang direction may lead to fever or shortness of breath, for example, and cold (liang) foods are in order to return to a state of balance, or maintain such balance[30]. Foods commonly classied as hot are fatty meats such as mutton and dog, oily nuts such as peanuts, spices such as chilli peppers and ginger, some fruits such as lychee and apricot, and strong alcoholic drink. Cold foods include most fruits, especially melon, bland low-calorie vegetables such as spinach, eggplant, bamboo shoot and watercress, crab, and seaweed (because water is cold). Most foods are neutral or only slightly hot or cold rice is neutral[29]. Magical qualities may also be associated with foods. Notably, walnuts are thought to be good brain food because they resemble the shape of the brain, and eating heart, kidney, legs and feet etc. is believed to strengthen their human counterpart[31]. Some foods are also thought to be especially strengthening (pu) the more strengthening, the more aphrodisiac in effect. The most prominent of these foods include birds nest, sharks n, sea slug, ginseng and deer antler. In addition to medicinal value, foods constitute a language of symbols, with their own semantic value. For example, cherry lips or cherry mouth are attributes of female beauty, and the expression eating cherries means having sexual intercourse. Similarly, an apricot symbolizes the wish to have a hundred sons, and an apple is a symbol of peace. The phonetic similarity of the sound of different words is also important. Be reminded that, while the languages of the nations of China are quite diverse, they do share an official language nationwide in

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Lauren A. Swanson 1.19850+ billion mouths to feed: food linguistics and cross-cultural, cross-national food consumption habits in China British Food Journal 98/6 [1996] 3344

Northern Mandarin/Putonghua. For example, many pregnant Chinese women avoid eating lamb because the Chinese word for lamb and epilepsy sound alike the fear is that the child may be born epileptic if the food is eaten during pregnancy . On the positive side, in Chinese, the word li (chestnut) is phonetically close to li (propriety), and the word zao (dates) sounds like zao (early or soon). Thus, at weddings, chestnuts are served together with dates and the message is may they soon (zao) have a son (li), which would be most proper. A picture including dates and chestnuts might also communicate the same message. Serving sh and oyster dishes is popular at lunar New Year banquets because their names sound like desirable states the words for sh and surplus sound alike, as do the words for oysters and happy events. The wish is that the new year ahead will be lled with an overow of happy occasions. The Chinese also distinguish between fan and tsai. Fan means rice, cereal and starchy dishes such as porridge, bread and noodles. Tsai refers to accompanying dishes such as vegetables, meat, or sh. A balanced (properly proportioned) meal of both of these foods is desired. Typically, fan is most important and more of it is eaten, with tsai serving as a

complement. However, to stress the importance of a meal in a restaurant or on a special occasion, tsai dishes predominate with rice and noodles served last when one may already be quite full this ensures that all are well fed on the occasion. While the shared symbolisms of foods help to unify the Chinese culture, certainly there are many who believe with more conviction than others. However, it is common that, while people may say they do not believe or hold to a particular symbolic meaning, they may still be reluctant to behave contrary to the commonly held meaning, for fear the meaning may actually be accurate just in case, and so as to not offend others beliefs, one may choose to abide by the common meaning of the food symbols. The 12 specic geographic regions/ nations referred to in the following discussion are described in detail by Swanson[9]. The map included in Figure 1 is for quick reference.

Mandarin nations
Northern Mandarin national cuisine
On the edge of the great plains of the Northern Mandarin nation, the people generally

Figure 1 Chinas sociolinguistic nation markets

Northern Mandarin 330M

North-western Mandarin 80M

Eastern Mandarin 80M Hoiziiou 4M

South western Mandarin 190M Xiang 50M Gan 25M Hakka 90M Yue 55M

Wu 85M Minazi 12M

Key Hui people Islamic Han Language influence

Minhan 40M

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Lauren A. Swanson 1.19850+ billion mouths to feed: food linguistics and cross-cultural, cross-national food consumption habits in China British Food Journal 98/6 [1996] 3344

prefer mutton to the sh and pork which are favoured elsewhere in the region. However, when other meats are available, most Han Chinese typically avoid mutton. Symbolically and medically, mutton is classied as ji or hot, perhaps because sheep ( yang) is phonetically similar to the male principle ( yang) (e.g. yin-yang). Also, the sheep is the eighth animal of the Chinese zodiac and is a symbol of lial piety as it kneels when nursing with the mother. So, while sh and pork may be preferred, mutton may be eaten on occasions when sending a symbolic message is desired. Throughout this nation, grains such as sorghum, oats, wheat and millet ll the role commonly assumed by rice in southern China. Winter wheat does well in the region and is used to make bread and noodles. The softer wheats grown farther south are more often used for confectionery products. Millet is a staple for the rural people of this area, since it is a more robust crop in the region than wheat. In these rural areas, millet is often mixed with sorghum and soy-bean our to make a simple gruel. Sorghum is widely grown and is used to make alcoholic drink, and for human consumption is mixed with millet. When oats are grown, which is not so often, it is meant for human consumption as opposed to feed for livestock. In this nation wheat breads rather than rice supply most of ones carbohydrates, and the bread is more often steamed than baked. Breads come in the form of rolls, dumplings ( jiaozi), or thin round sheets used to roll up pieces of Beijing duck, for example, along with chopped green onions and bean sauce. The Mandarin duck is a symbol of marital bliss because the birds mate for life and are seldom away from each other. Like the Mandarin duck, the goose, swallow, and pigeon are symbols of long life, faithfulness, family love and marital delity . A picture of a duck in the reeds means, May you do well in your examination, and duck meat is often prescribed for pregnant women. Soy beans are important everywhere in China as a source of protein, but they are particularly favoured in the north. A variety of thin and thick sauces, many of them sweetened, are made from these beans. Northern Mandarin people are particularly fond of bean curd and frying their food in bean paste. A favourite summer fruit is the watermelon, it being a particularly cold (liang) type food. So popular is this fruit that guards are sometimes placed on trucks transporting it, vendors often sleep with their commodity

overnight to protect it from theft, and a major problem in Beijing, for example, is the disposal of the massive quantities of left-over rinds. Also, some vendors even offer certicates guaranteeing the buyer a sweet melon. In addition to their common characteristics, the provinces of the northern Mandarin each have their own peculiarities of cuisine and styles of cooking. For example, Beijing food is relatively salty and its sauces avoured with generous amounts of garlic, onions, leeks and ginger. Each of these are considered warm or hot in nature, with the onion highly regarded as a means of countering the winter cold, and sometimes prescribed as postpartum food for women. In the Beijing area, the words for onion and clever sound alike, and an onion may be used to impart cleverness to a newborn child by dipping it in the infants initial bath water. Barbecued meats and other dishes are sometimes cooked at the table and sweet-andsour dishes are typically more sour than sweet (Cantonese cooking is more sweet). Mutton, duck, or chicken are eaten, perhaps owing to the usual shortages of beef and pork. For most people in China, the cock chicken, the tenth animal of the Chinese zodiac, is not eaten. For those who eat it, it is not eaten in soups. The bird is believed to drive away evil spirits and symbolizes courage and reliability . The cock crowing represents achievement and fame. Fast-growing vegetables such as white cabbages, carrots and radishes are the most available. However, availability does not necessarily indicate preference other fast growing vegetables may be welcomed as a respite from a usually monotonous winter supply of a limited range of vegetables. Hebei Province and Tianjin City are famous for their seafood, particularly crabs and prawns. Because a crab is thought to resemble the head of a tiger, it is believed to be able to repel evil and, while the crab has the reputation as a male aphrodisiac, it is thought to be harmful for pregnant women and their child. Prawns are also thought to retard healing an open wound. The cuisine of Shandong Province is noted for its breads steamed rolls, wheat breads and dumplings. Fish dishes are especially prevalent in Shandong cooking, e.g. batterfried shrimp, prawns, abalone with mushrooms, braised shark ns or carp and crab meat with vegetables. Chicken, rst steamed and then fried crispy in oil, is common, as is the famous birds nest soup, commonly thought to be an aphrodisiac owing to its classication as a hot (si), strengthening

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Lauren A. Swanson 1.19850+ billion mouths to feed: food linguistics and cross-cultural, cross-national food consumption habits in China British Food Journal 98/6 [1996] 3344

food. Birds nest is also thought to be good for women during pregnancy and for young children. It is believed to enhance vigour, soft skin, wisdom and longevity . The Shandong-style of cooking is not commonly found elsewhere in China. As for drink, the city of Qingdao is noted for its beer and the port city of Yantai is famous for its grapes and grape wines. The cuisine of Henan Province is typical of this region in that it is salty, uses wheat bread as a staple and uses green onions liberally for avouring. Particular favourites include fried shrimp in soy sauce and crispy fried pork slices. Some specialities are kidneys, bear paw and sweet-and-sour sh. The bear symbolizes man (and the snake symbolizes woman). Bears are also a sign of strength and courage and bear paw is a strengthening food and a special dish mainly at expensive feasts. It is believed that if a bear can ward off hunger during winter hibernation by licking its paws, then the paw must be very strengthening, both for the bear and for people who eat it. The star constellation of the Great Bear (Ursa Major) is believed to be the residence of Shang-di, the supreme god.

large numbers in this nation, the diet of the Hui people, or Islamic Han, is dictated by their religion they abstain from eating pork and eat mainly mutton and other foods of the Near East. As with the Islamic Han, Buddhists and Taoists maintain a unique diet. Theirs is a vegetarian diet, without meat, sh, or dairy products, and also without onions, garlic and leeks or alcoholic drink. For Buddhists, this diet is based on a reluctance to take life. The Taoist, with many sects having no particular respect for animal life, is primarily concerned with gaining longevity or immortality, believing that eating certain foods would disrupt bodily harmony and offend many gods who dislike the odour of esh. Confucianists, while holding to the notion that compassion for animals is normal for humans, do not universally abstain from meat eating[32]. Ancestral spirits are considered to have the same need as the living for food and thus are considered dependent on the food offerings provided by their living descendants[33].

South-western Mandarin national cuisine North-western Mandarin national cuisine

For the people of Shanxi Province, millet is the staple grain and is widely used in its gruels. Potatoes, tomatoes, corn and pumpkins are common. Chillis, onions, garlic and tomatoes are typical avourings. Breads made from corn and potatoes, steamed mutton, noodles in sauce and at bread are basic to the area. Shanxi provincial food is spicy with garlic and green onions and is commonly prepared with large doses of vinegar. Symbolically, drinking vinegar is the standard Chinese metaphor for feeling jealousy. This area is also particularly noted for its wheat and buckwheat noodles and its wheat-our desserts. Perhaps not surprisingly, noodles are a symbol of long life. Thus, with eggs being a symbol of good fortune (and fertility), one may wish a guest good fortune and long life by serving eggs and long noodles. Inner Mongolian fare favours barbecues and a hot-pot style of cooking where diners at the table dunk meat and vegetables into pots of sizzling broth and then dip them into a mixture of hot and spicy sauces. The Han of Gansu Province like lamb kebabs and at bread, spicy noodles and mutton. A variety of melons are their most common fruit. With The cuisine of this nation is heavily inuenced by the tastes of the Province of Sichuan. There is an emphasis on the use of strong spices and red peppers. Sichuan specialities include crispy fried beef strips, peppery bean curd, pork and spicy eggplant. A soup with red peppers and noodles and a peppery-hot pickled vegetable salad is common fare. Food in this region usually uses more meat than in southern Chinese cooking and less cornstarch and thickening. Sauces frequently use peanut or sesame paste. Chicken and other poultry are common and a camphorsmoked duck is a speciality . The food in Hubei Province is not as hot as in Sichuan. However, a spicy chicken and pepper dish is a favourite. Stuffed breads, turtle soup, dishes using bean curd skin and a dish made of egg white, rice and prawns are specialities. Turtles are symbolic of good luck and longevity and turtle eggs are in high demand for their aphrodisiac qualities. Eggs in general play a major role in Chinese folk religion and are important for use in divination. One form of egg divination involves examination of the patterns of the marks on the egg white of a boiled egg, painted or drawn on beforehand, or boiled in tea.

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Eggs are also a symbol of fertility . They are given as gifts to guests at wedding ceremonies and given to both newborn child and mother in a wish for the child to enjoy a long and happy life. Yunnan provincial foods are famous for their steamed chicken, vermicelli in hot sauce, honeyed ham and curried dishes using black beans. An appetite for curry is no doubt inuenced by the diets of neighbouring countries India, Burma, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam. Guizhou and northern Guangxi Provinces are noted for their salt-and-sour dishes such as salt-and-sour pickles, carp and pork.

Eastern Mandarin national cuisine

The peoples of this region generally prefer meals of bite-size portions of food. Rolls and dumplings are smaller, more bite-size morsels than those eaten elsewhere in China. At banquets, hors-doeuvres are a favourite. Wines are more popular in this nation than in others and is mostly made from grain, particularly rice, rather than grapes. Mao-tai is a particularly popular wine. Duck cured in brine and salty duck or chicken dishes are also common. A casserole of sh stuffed with lamb, meat-lled mushrooms, pork meatballs, crispy rice and sh such as mullet, shad and perch are favourite dishes. The Chinese word for sh ( yu) sounds identical to the word meaning abundance and affluence. Thus, the sh symbolizes wealth and is a popular dish at Lunar New Year. Shrimp (often eaten alive), crabs, rolls stuffed with crab eggs, vegetables fried in chicken fat and smoked duck tongue are specialities. Generally, the foods of this nation are lighter and milder than the regions to its west. In fact, salty dishes from inland China generally get sweeter as one moves east along the Yangzi River.

Non-Mandarin nations
Yue national cuisine
Commonly known as Cantonese cuisine, the Yue food is extremely varied, relatively oily and often sweet. The rich culinary diversity in the Yue repertoire is probably due to the geographic position of the region on Chinas south-east coast, historically dominating Chinas sea trade with other parts of south-east Asia and thus being inuenced by such trade contacts.

Quick frying is favoured over simmering, boiling, or barbecuing in this nation. Steamed hors-d oeuvres called dim-sum are the normal fare at the Cantonese brunch or early lunch. Stir-fried dishes and gravies thickened with cornstarch are typical. Red, barbecued pork is famous and sauces made from seafood to avour meat dishes are common, e.g. beef in oyster sauce. It has been said of the Yue that they will eat anything on four legs but a table and chairs and anything on two legs but man. The latter point I have heard claried (in jest) by a native Yue as follows, ... anything on two legs but man, unless of course the man is a barbarian from the north. Although this characterization is certainly embellished, the fare of the Yue is undeniably exotic at times and consists of quite a variety . When available, dishes of tropical forest products such as braise-fried cat, gecko in clear soup, braised turtle, pangolin (a toothless, scaly mammal) and live sh dishes are not uncommon. While cat is eaten, generally it is only eaten in southern China and it is more often consumed as medicine than as food. Some local favourites include deep-fat-fried locusts, snake and cat-meat soup, monkey brains, cobra garnished in chrysanthemums and lemon, smoked rabbit, braised snakeskin with ducks-foot webs. The snake, the fth animal of the Chinese zodiac, is regarded as clever and eating it is thought to be particularly good for the eyes. The monkey is the ninth animal of the Chinese zodiac and is eaten more as a medicine than a food. It is also thought to be an effective remedy for malaria. The pangolin is considered a strengthening ( pu) food and its scales an effective medicine with general application. The Chinese word for chrysanthemum sounds like the word for remain ( ju) and the word for nine ( jiu), which sounds like the word for long time ( jiu). Thus, the ower is a symbol for long life and duration. As for rabbit, the fourth animal in the Chinese zodiac, one might be surprised to know that, within China, it is the third most common source of meat, behind pig and chicken. New-born, baby mice preserved in honey are considered good for new mothers; and dog meat, especially that of a black dog, is favoured as a medicinal food at Lunar New Year time. While both the mouse and the rat have the same basic name in Chinese (shu), it is the rat, the rst animal in the Chinese zodiac, which is symbolic it is associated with money and it is eaten. In the city of Canton there is a restaurant with only rat dishes

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on its menu. The dog is the eleventh creature in the Chinese zodiac and, in southern China, is eaten only in autumn and winter. The dog is believed to have brought rice to man in the beginning. The people of this region are relatively and notably more keen on food symbolisms and superstitions than in other parts of China. In fact, it has been said that the people of Hong Kong may be even more Chinese than others in China, in that the forces of communism, the Cultural Revolution and the Great Leap Forward, etc. have had far less suppressing impact on such traditions than elsewhere in China.

women and are therefore avoided by them. Smoking foods with chilli peppers is a favourite process, such as smoked chicken in tangerine peel sauce and honeyed smoked ham. While rice is a main crop here, cooks also specialize in stuffed bread dishes and serve sliced bread at the table. The area is also well known for its strong, black teas.

Gan national cuisine

Hillside crops such as tea, sweet potatoes and peanuts are important to the economy of this area. As for cuisine, famous dishes include chicken avoured with tangerines and ginger, steamed meat or duck with crushed rice, chicken cooked in soy sauce, water and wine, beans preserved in pepper and a snack of dried bean curd avoured with peppers.

Wu national cuisine
In the Shanghai area of the Wu nation, the people favour sweet dishes, and bakery goods are more common than elsewhere in China. Dishes here are more often served with noodles than rice, and sauces are often sweet, avoured with wine and ginger. Carp is a favourite sh and smoked sh and goose are common cold dishes. The common carp is a highly regarded food to the Chinese it is the king of sh. The words for carp and advantage (li) have the same sound and thus the sh is symbolic of good fortune, abundance, wealth and benet or advantage in ones pursuits. In fact, another name for carp is the god-of-wealth-sh. It is also a symbol of patience and steadfastness and its whiskers are deemed evidence of supernatural powers. Many honour Buddha on his birthday by setting free young carp. The northern Wu specialize in such seafood as crabs, eel, shrimp and various freshwater lake sh. Spareribs in bean curd sauce are a speciality and many of the common sweets use nuts or seeds such as pumpkin or sesame. In central Wu, a type of sweet and sour vinegar sh is popular and some dishes, such as shrimp, are cooked in tea. The eastern Wu peoples have a reputation for favouring fermented, pickled, or cured foods. Particularly cold (liang) vegetables, like eggplant and melon, along with cabbage, are not normally eaten fresh but are soaked in brine until partly fermented before eaten. The peoples of this area are also lovers of wine and in fact produce one of Chinas best.

Minnan national cuisine

As might be expected, the Minnan use a lot of sea products in their cooking. Clear soups are a favourite and spices are relatively light. Foods with dough wrappers are common and the primary meat is pork. The pig is the last of the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac and is a symbol for virility . While unmarried women may be discouraged from eating pig knuckles because it suggests pregnancy, pregnant women eat the dish to benet both mother and child. Eating roast pork is a metaphor for sexual intercourse. The Minnan peoples generally do not eat much beef and water buffalo because they are considered friendly and helpful animals. Although one of the major types of cooking in China, the Minnan cuisine is not very popular with other Chinese, perhaps owing to the proliferation of clear soups in their diet. The Minnan people of the Shantou area of Guangdong Province do not favour the clear soups and bland seafoods characteristic of the other Minnan. Their cuisine favours fried foods and uses more salt than is common in the neighbouring Yue/Cantonese cooking. Dipping foods in a variety of condiments is common and salt-pickled vegetables are typical. Area specialities include thick, shark n soup and goose served in a fried pancake of dried goose blood with garlic and vinegar sauce. Sharks n is a dish typically reserved for special occasions, is considered strengthening (therefore possessing the qualities of an aphrodisiac) and is high in calcium and iron. Rice is usually not steamed but rather served in the form of a gruel.

Xiang national cuisine

The area of the Xiang nation roughly approximates that of Hunan Province. Like the peoples of Sichuan and the south-western Mandarin nation, the Xiang use hot, red peppers heavily . Generally, red and chilli peppers are thought harmful to pregnant

Minbei national cuisine

The Minbei enjoy their teas, abundant tropical fruits (e.g., papaya, lychees and lotus

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Lauren A. Swanson 1.19850+ billion mouths to feed: food linguistics and cross-cultural, cross-national food consumption habits in China British Food Journal 98/6 [1996] 3344

seeds), clear soups and seafoods oysters and clams are favourites and shrimp sauce is used a lot. Fish or seaweed are often used as avourings for meat dishes and meats are usually shredded. Foods wrapped in dough and stuffed dishes are more common here than in other parts of China. The lotus is a symbol of purity and is particularly precious to Buddhists. It is also a symbol of fertility, divine birth, spiritual power, beauty and perfection. Most edible are the root (high in vitamin C) and the seed (a good source of carbohydrate, protein, calcium, iron and vitamin B). It is a cold (liang) food, believed to improve virility, increase fertility and slow the ageing process. Also, the Chinese word for lotus seed resembles the words for many sons. Seaweed is regarded as a cold (liang) food, to be avoided by pregnant women and those suffering from weakness. It is highly recommended for those suffering from excess heat unbalanced towards the yang in the yin-yang spectrum. People of this nation prefer very strong tea and are in the habit of sipping it from smaller than usual cups.

some respects. However, the cuisine descriptions herein, and the symbolic descriptions of foods, are generally accurate and validated by personal observation, secondary sources and the observations of natives of the various nations of China. While individual tastes and food preferences vary, as do food symbolisms, our ndings are by and large in agreement with the common food preferences of the national populations as a whole, as are food symbolisms consistent across nations.

Summary and conclusion

First, some general observations in review. While sweet and sour dishes are universally popular in China, they tend to be more sour than sweet in the northern nations. In the south the converse is more likely sweet and sour dishes are more sweet than sour. Northern Chinese dishes are also more salty than in the south. Also, the salty dishes from inland China generally get sweeter as one moves to the east along the Yangtze River. The north-west and south-west Mandarin and the Xiang nations have in common their love for strong spices such as onions and garlic and for hot, red peppers and chillis in their dishes. Conversely, the eastern Mandarin, Yue and Huizhou peoples prefer lighter, milder, more oily dishes than the nations to the west. The Yue and Minnan people both have a strong liking for sea products. However, the Minnan do not eat much beef, they eat more fried foods, and their dishes are saltier than Yue/Cantonese cooking. The Minbei of the south-east coastal region love tropical fruits. As for the rice staple, the northern Mandarin people eat more grains and breads and the southern nations more rice by comparison. The Hakka have a notably strong liking for soy bean. Finally, the Hui people (Islamic Han) abstain from eating pork and eat mutton and other foods of the Near East, while Buddhists and, for the most part, Taoists maintain a vegetarian diet. The managerial interests of the reader will determine which aspects of the paper have most value. Those with interest in specic types of foods within categories such as fruits, vegetables, grains[34], meat[35] or poultry[36] products will want to concentrate on those nations which prefer or produce these products. Some readers will have interest in various stages of the food production processcrop production and harvesting, meat and other

Huizhou or Wannan national cuisine

This is a major tea producing nation, the cuisine of which is relatively oily and heavily inuenced by the cuisines of the Eastern Mandarin and Wu nations. As the national drink of China, tea may be given as a gift by a man to the family of his ance to symbolize unity, loyalty and steadfastness to the family .

Hakka national cuisine

Simple, home cooking is how one might describe the Hakka cuisine. Salt-baked chicken, vegetables stuffed with minced sh, crisp vegetables (with little spice or garlic added), winter melon soup, minced squab and stuffed bean curd are common dishes. The Hakka also make heavy use of soy beans (high in protein content) and frequently use sweet potato (high in calories) to stretch available rice. Symbolically, eating bean curd is a metaphor for sexual intercourse. By now the reader will have noticed the number of foods which have sexual connotations either symbolically or medically (namely, the assorted aphrodisiacs).

Study limitations
The fact that the survey is largely based on the use of convenience sampling in collecting eld data may be seen as a disadvantage in

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food processing, milling, baking, preserving, canning, retailing, wholesaling, exporting, importing, etc. These people may nd the cuisine variations among the nations of China to be helpful in selling various kinds of equipment to China or perhaps for starting various kinds of agriculture and food-related joint venture businesses in China. Those involved in either importing food from China or exporting food to China may also be interested in the taste preferences discussed here and the various symbolic meanings of the foods. Also those who market foods to various Chinese populations around the world may have an interest in knowing the more specic Chinese national backgrounds of their Chinese customers. As for further research, there is a need to study the impact of western and other nonChinese, Asian foods and dishes on traditional Chinese diets and food preferences, in rural as well as urban China. For example, as people become more mobile, travel throughout the regions of China and to other countries and taste more foreign foods, what is the impact on the Chinese food culture likely to be? Likewise, what are the effects of economic modernization and the introduction of Western fast-food retailers in China on the eating habits of adults, and especially on more affluent youth? How are diets changing and what is the intensity and extent of healthconsciousness in China and among whom? What impact is Chinese cuisine having on the eating habits of non-Chinese people in other countries, especially among the health-conscious. Of course, from a scientic point of view, studies are necessary to determine the medicinal efficacy of many foods that the Chinese eat, and agricultural scientists are ever challenged to develop more robust, fruitful and nutritious crops and livestock to feed an enormous Chinese and world demand. To conclude, it is hoped that the reader now has a greater appreciation for both the rich diversity which exists in China and for the tremendous undercurrent of unity which coexists with that diversity . Contrary to rather uninformed popular belief among foreign business people, there is no China market! Rather, there are many markets within China. There are many languages and hence cultures in the country and the people do not all eat the same foods. At the same time, there is a rich symbolic tradition associated with the foods that the Chinese eat indeed, there is an elaborate food linguistic the semantics of which need to be understood by outsiders.

Notes and references

1 Becker, J., Shaken by prophet of doom, South China Morning Post, Hong Kong, October 1995, p. 9. 2 Moakes, N., A Billion Mouths to Feed: Consumerism and the Food Processing Industry in China, (monograph), S.G. Warburg Securities (Far East) Ltd, Hong Kong, 30 August 1994. 3 Brown, L.G., Chinas growing food crisis, South China Morning Post, Hong Kong, October 1995, p. 9. 4 The economy has grown at double digit rates from 1992 to 1995, expanding the economy by 56 per cent and allowing incomes to rise by half in four years[3]. 5 The population is growing at a rate of about 1.1 per cent, or 13 million people per year[3]. 6 Since 1993, China has become a net grain importer, second only to Japan in grain imports[1]. 7 Dodge, L., China ripe for foreign food rms, South China Morning Post, Hong Kong, 21 September 1994, p. B-5. 8 Lai, T.C., Chinese Food for Thought, Hong Kong Book Centre, Hong Kong, 1978, p. 91. 9 Swanson, L.A., The twelve nations of China, Journal of International Consumer Marketing, Vol. 2 No. 1, 1989, pp. 83-105. 10 Belk, R.W., Its the thought that counts: a signed digraph analysis of gift-giving, Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 3, December 1976, pp. 155-62. 11 Belk, R.W., Bahn, K. and Mayer, R., Developmental recognition of consumption symbolism, Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 9, June 1982, pp. 4-17. 12 Belk, R.W., Mayer, R. and Driscoll, A., Childrens recognition of consumption symbolism in childrens products, Journal of Consumer Research, March 1984, pp. 386-97. 13 Kehret-Ward, T., Combining products in use: how the syntax of product use affects marketing decisions, in Umiker-Sebeok, J. (Ed.), Marketing and Semiotics: New Directions in the Study of Signs for Sale, Mouton de Gruyter, New York, NY, pp. 219-38. 14 Kehret-Ward, T., Using a semiotic approach to study the consumption of functionally related products, International Journal of Research in Marketing, Vol. 4, 1988, pp. 187-200. 15 Levy, S.J., Symbols for sale, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 37, July-August 1959, pp. 117-24. 16 Levy, S.J., Symbolism and life style, Perspectives in Marketing Management, Scott, Foresman, Glenview, IL, 1971, pp. 112-18. 17 Levy, S.J., Interpreting consumer mythology: a structural approach to consumer behaviour, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 45, Summer 1981, pp. 49-61. 18 Levy, S.J., Symbols, selves and others, in Mitchell, A. (Ed.), Advances in Consumer Research, Vol. 9, Association for Consumer Research, Ann Arbor, MI, 1982, pp. 542-3.

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19 Mick, D.G., Consumer research and semiotics: exploring the morphology of signs, symbols and signicance, Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 13 No. 2, September 1986, pp. 196-213. 20 Terpstra, V . and David, K., The Cultural Environment of International Business, SouthWestern, Cincinnati, OH, 1985. 21 Arensberg, C. and Niehoff, A., Introducing Social Change, A Manual for Americans Overseas, Aldine, Chicago, IL, 1964, p. 30. 22 A Survey of Income and Household Conditions in China: 1990-1994, International Centre for the Advancement of Science and Technology, Hong Kong. 23 China: A Statistical Survey in 1989-1994, New World Press, Beijing. 24 China Urban Statistics: 1990-1994, Longman Group, London. 25 Eberhard, W.P., Chinese regional stereotypes, Asian Survey, Vol. 5. No. 2, December 1965, pp. 596-608. 26 Moser, L.J., The Chinese Mosaic: The Peoples and Provinces of China, Westview Press, Boulder, CO, 1985. 27 The name of this ministry has since been changed to the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Co-operation (MOFTEC). 28 Lehmann, W.P. (Ed.), Language and Linguistics in the Peoples Republic of China, University of Texas Press, Austin, TX, 1975, p.49.

29 Anderson, E.N., The Food of China, Yale University Press, New Haven, CT, 1988, pp. 192-4. 30 Anderson, E.N. and Anderson, M.L., Modern China: South, in Chang, K.C. (Ed.), Food in Chinese Culture, Yale University Press, New Haven, CT, 1977, pp. 368-70. 31 Tan, S.P. and Wheeler, E., Concepts relating to health and food held by Chinese women in London, Ecology of Food and Nutrition, Vol. 13, 1988, p. 43. 32 Maspero, H., Taoism and Chinese Religion, University of Massachusetts Press, Amherst, MA, 1981, p. 38. 33 Wolf, A.P., Religion and Ritual in Chinese Society, Stanford University Press, Stanford, CA, 1974, p. 177. 34 Between 1993 and 1994, China went from being a net grain exporter to a net grain importer of 16 million tons. Today, China is a leading importer of grain second only to Japan[3]. 35 Since 1978, Chinas consumption of pork has increased over 400 per cent (from 7 million to 30 million tons), making China the worlds leading consumer of red meat[3]. 36 Chinas consumption of poultry, including both chicken and duck, more than doubled (from 3.2 to 6.6 million tons) in the four years from 1990-94[3].

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