HOW TO EAT In China
2 min readModeration is the key not only to what you eat but to how you eat. The following guidelines should help you stay conservative in your intake.
Eat only when you are hungry.
Three meals a day are supposed to be most conducive to good health. Start with a large breakfast, follow it with a medium-sized lunch, and end the day with a light dinner at least three hours before bedtime. In China the evening meal is rarely taken much later than 7 P.M.
Never eat when you are angry, upset, or in a state of emotional turmoil. Extreme emotions, considered to be one of the causes of disease, interfere with digestion.
Eat slowly. Chopsticks elegantly used ensure that your food cannot be eaten too rapidly—by “elegantly used” we mean picking up each morsel and carrying it from your bowl to your lips.
Chew your food properly and relish your drinks. Or, as the Chinese saying goes, “Drink your food and chew your drinks.”
Eat your food at room temperature if raw, or warm if cooked. Never eat food directly out of a refrigerator or piping hot. Extremes in heat and cold are a shock to the body.
Do not talk when you eat. While people in China like to eat in large groups, they generally save their conversations for the time between courses. Eat in a warm and comfortable environment. Do not eat outdoors with your face into the wind; cold air is said to enter your body every time you open your mouth, causing stomachache.
Avoid being sedentary immediately following a meal. A popular Chinese saying claims that “one hundred steps after meals assures ninety-nine years of life.”
