Foods of the Spring Festival

By: Tony Zheng, Paul Geary, Alexis Kmak, and Betsy Rice

The Spring Festival, also known as the Chinese New Year Festival, is celebrated in the early months of each year. It begins on the first day of the first month in the Chinese lunar calendar (Zhiyuan). The Chinese people have many customs and traditions in their celebration during this time of year. One of the most important aspects of their celebration is the food. Tangyuan, dumplings, Nian Gao, and spring rolls are among the most popular foods eaten during the Chinese Spring Festival each year.

People perform with a dragon during the Chinese New Year. Credit: Hendrik van den Berg, Wikipedia Commons
People perform with a dragon during the Chinese New Year at the Nan Hau Temple . Credit: Hendrik van den Berg, Wikipedia Commons

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Kung Pao Chicken

By: Allison King, Grace Drummond, Timothy Cole, Weezy Ward

Introduction 

When thinking about China, one of the first things that comes to mind is the food.

One of the myths that has been debunked throughout this course is the American perception of Chinese food. The first thing we associate with Chinese food are those take out boxes full of noodles, rice, maybe chicken or beef, and stir-fry dripping in sauce. Although that is our conception on Chinese food, it is the grossly Americanized fast food conception of the classic Chinese cuisine.

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Photo by Weezy Ward 

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Water Pollution: It Affects More Than Just Your Tea

By Caroline Wolcott, Lena Dufresne, Anna Walters, and Graham Robbins

Contaminated baby formula, water contaminated by sewage, and unsafe swimming conditions are frightening realities in China. These issues span over numerous aspects of everyday life including  people’s eating habits, health, and lifestyle. A large percentage of this contamination can be attributed to many years of uncontrolled industrial pollution, seeing as though industry is a large majority of the Chinese economy.

Three Gorges Dam A woman overlooks the polluted Yangtze River. Courtesy: Getty Images

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The Colonel Infiltrates China

By Dan Guin and Sam Jones

Fast Food Chains such as KFC and Pizza Hut conjure up many images inside an American’s mind. Usually the latter reminds us of those strange red booths with cracked faux-leather, and a strange 80’s wood theme throughout the restaurant. It is not the most romantic place to go on a date. Dig about 8,000 miles through the Earth, and you would find a stark difference between the Pizza Huts of America, and the Pizza Huts of China.

 

A KFC in China
A KFC in China

Unlike its American cousin, usually known for its cheap and passable pizza, Pizza Hut in China is known for its unique and experimental pizzas, an upper-middle class clientele, and as a place that many teens take their dates on. Pizza Hut in China is obviously not the brand we know and (love?) here in America, so we were curious as to the motivation between the sharp shift in branding.

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Pizza Hut in China http://www.globalpartnersmba.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Brazil-2011-025.jpg

 

To understand this however, we need to take a glance at the beginning of the fast food revolution in China. American Fast Food chains, like a modern day manifest destiny with a greasy twist, entered the Chinese restaurant market in 1987, with KFC opening its first Chinese branch in Beijing. McDonalds followed soon after, and these two fast food chains became the number 1 and 2 top fast food restaurants in China, respectively (Big Mac: Inside the McDonald’s Empire). By 2002, 80% of Chinese citizens had eaten at one of these fast food restaurants. But why the rapid expansion? Researchers at the Oxford Club speculate that this may be due to the rapid expansion of the middle class, as well as grueling work hours, causing many to not be able to eat at home. Researchers also wonder that if marriages, now happening later in life, are having a meaningful impact on fast food sales.

 

This brings us back to our original question. Why does Pizza Hut look so different in China? What it comes down to is the demographic. When fast food first came out in China, it could only afford to cater to the upper middle class/upper class citizens. Now that the standard of living and general wealth have increased, a larger portion of citizens are now able to eat fast food without the fast food company having to drop quality or class.

 

Though growth is slowing, the future of fast food in China is bright, with millions of potential customers ready for a slice of pizza.

 

Citations

1. D’altorio, Tony. “Fast-Food Culture Grows in China.” – Investment U. Accessed April 15, 2015. http://www.investmentu.com/article/detail/18380/fast-food-culture-grows-in-china#.VS5xz1yGu2w.
2. “Yum! Global News.” Yum! Brands. Accessed April 15, 2015. http://www.yum.com/.
3.Big Mac: Inside the McDonald’s Empire. DVD. 2007; New York, NY: Films Media Group, 2008.
4. Bankman, Judy. “Western Fast Food Chains Flourish in China.” Food Tank. Accessed April 15, 2015. http://foodtank.com/news/2013/08/western-fast-food-chains-flourish-in-china-rates-of-obesity-and-diabetes-sk.
5. “Pizza Hut in China” http://www.globalpartnersmba.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Brazil-2011-025.jpg
6. “KFC, China” http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fb/Kfc_of_china.jpg

 

Talk Noodle To Me

By Chandler Smith, Morgan Falkenhagen, Meg Demaar, Yilan Luo & Matthew Terrell

You’re at your favorite Chinese restaurant. The air is full of the savory scent of delicious cuisine being specially prepared for your enjoyment. As you scan the menu your mouth begins to water in anticipation of the meal to come. Your eyes meet the noodle section of the menu and you are overcome with a wave of confusion. What are these noodles!?!? Broad rice noodle?! Stir fried rice noodles?! Fried egg noodle?! Lo mein noodle!?! Flat rice noodles!?!? What could this all mean!? Look no further… all your noodles questions will soon be answered!

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The team takes Yap! We ordered all different types of noodles to experience the broad spectrum of options. Photo Courtesy of Morgan Falkenhagen.

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Sweet and Sour America

By Brad Mogavero, Eric Williams, Gabe Mickey, Samikshya Pandey, Wenshan Li

Today, America seems to enjoy Chinese cuisine just as much as the classic cheeseburger or a juicy steak. When and how did we get this taste of China? It may be one of America’s favorites in its diverse ethnic melting pot of foods, but is the Chinese food Americans are eating as authentic as the real stuff? Even if the so called “Chinese food” Americans are enjoying is not authentic, what are some ways that they can make it so? China is a rich and vibrant culture teaming with foods that have an explosion of flavor. According to Andrew Zimmern, a popular travel channel host, the cuisine in Chengdu, the capital of the Sichuan province, “rivals the world’s greatest food capitals” and “belongs at the top of the charts” (Travel Channel). Americans have adopted this Chinese food culture, but that being said, when adopting another country’s food, it should be done right.

Authentic Dumplings
Authentic Dumplings, Encyclopædia Britannica ImageQuest, http://tinyurl.com/lrapjgo

How did Chinese cuisine reach almost every corner of the U.S.? According to Chinatown, Asian American society, Chinese people first came to the west coast of the U.S. to fulfill the demand for labor. However, this immigration was halted because of the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882. After the ban on Chinese immigration was lifted in 1943, the U.S. saw a rise in the number of Chinese workers in the U.S.
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Urbanization: Farming and Food in Villages Before Cultural Revolution

By Tommy Hauver, Michael Tan and Claire Mathon

Before the Cultural Revolution, long hours during the day were not uncommon for villagers.  Part of the long workdays was the long walk to the farming plot.  Since some villages were based next to maintain sides, they would use hill plots to do the majority of their farming, it would take up to 2-3 hour just to the farming plots.  Another reason for their hard work was due to the thin topsoil that would lie on these hill plots.  Because of the thin topsoil, the arable lands become fewer and fewer, which leads to problems with their food.  Since the land that could be farmed on was few, it became tough for some villages to support all of the citizens.  This caused those villages to boil the rice in watery gruel to make it last longer for every meal.  Another aspect of the villagers’ lives that was impacted was their diet.  Due to the fact that meat was mostly eaten on special occasions, dried fish, pickles, and beans made up the starch side of their diet.  Finally, vegetables were a rare food to be eaten in certain villages, because of the belief that vegetables needed to be cooked in oil, and few peanuts were grown.  (Anita Chan, Chen Village, pgs 14-15) 

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How Chinese is Chinese Food in America?

By A . Nichols

Mushu pork, General Tsao’s chicken, egg rolls and the like aren’t nearly as Chinese as you may think.  An article by David Chan details how their birth can be dated back from the late 1800s when Chinese immigrants first came from America from the Toishan region of China, seeking a new life, as well as an escape from the less than ideal conditions in their homeland.  They quickly found work on the railroads and in American’s kitchens, contributing both to America’s international railroad and America’s cuisine.  At first, the Americans were hesitant to allow their employees to cook authentic Chinese food in their homes.  This led to the Chinese using what they know, combined with the ingredients available to create some of the first American-Chinese fusion.

One of the dishes created in this process is chop suey, a dish created with egg, meat and various vegetables, typically in a starchy sauce.  Fast forward about 60 years, Americans have developed a taste for food on the go due to bigger cities and faster cars.  In nearly every big city,

Chopsticks

corners are dotted with delivery Italian and Chinese delivery restaurants, or chow chow houses as Americans called them at the time. The hamburger delivery joints of the 1920s had finally met their match, in the form of  food cooked by Chinese immigrants, contained in wax paper boxes and plastic take out bags.

At the end of nearly every Chinese meal in America, at the bottom of every take out bag, and in the kitchen drawers of American kitchens lurks the fortune cookie.  One may be lead to believe that the iconic fortune cookie is one of the most Chinese foods out there, but they would be sorely mistaken.  Fortune cookies are without a doubt one of the least Chinese foods served in American-Chinese restaurants, often being made in Mexico along with most of the food served in Chinese buffets.

mu shu pork

American-Chinese food has made a complete circle, returning home to China. As more and more expats begin to call parts of China like Beijing home, more and more American-Chinese restaurants are popping up in China in hopes of catering to homesick expats looking for a slice of the old country.  One of these innovators is Lu Wintao, a Chinese American chef.  He started refining his techniques in the American south, in North Carolina where he learned to blend Chinese food with American cuisine.  After his tenure in North Carolina, he went back to Beijing where he opened up the Lobster House, a restaurant that serves the crustacean in multiple ways, many of them with an American twist.

GENERAL TSO'S CHICKEN