As a
Chinese old saying goes:"mountaineers rely on mountains, just like those by the
waterside profit from water." People in different regions choose the food
mainly by the materials they have. For instance, in southeastern coastal areas,
people are fond of fish and shrimp, which are not accepted by the local people
in the northwest area. In addition, politics, economic and technology are main
factors which contribute to the area differentiation of Chinese food. Beijing ,an important
city from very early time in Chinese history, attracts a lot of famous cooks,
which makes different food habits from the whole country affect each other and
mingle. The development of economic also performs a role. For example, the
northeast China
had been relayed on gathering-----fishing, hunting and nomadism. However, as
more and more Han Chinese person moved in and reclaim, the agriculture in the
central China
has already take root there.
Let’s
make it more concrete.
I’d
like to divide the north China
into northeast and northwest.
First
talk about the northeast. This area includes Liaoning,
Jilin, Heilongjiang
and Inner Mongolia, in which, the soil is rich
without large population nor frost period. The economic there is made up of
farming, hunting, fishing and gathering. Compared with the food in the middle
or lower reaches of the Yellow River and Yangtze River valley, the food in
northeast consist of more animal albumen. Furthermore, because of the low
temperature, people there like frozen food specially. The frozen food in
northeast China
being a large number of kinds and quantity, as well as a long eating period, is
a big characteristic of northeastern food. Such as ,frozen meat, frozen fish,
especially the frozen tofu. Because of a short nonfrost period, the fresh
vegetable is in short supply. As a result, people like to stock a large number
of them for the winter.
Then
about the northwest. This food circle in made up of Shanxi,
Gansu, Jiangxi
and so on. From Qin dynasty on, this area is fine for the growth of grain and
wheat. So until now, the wheaten food is popular there, especially in Shanxi and Jiangxi.
Because the agriculture’s prior place, animal husbandry is not very advanced.
Food in
south China
presents another view.
The
Yangtze River alley consists of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui and Shanghai. This area is
the important cradle land of rice. Centuries ago, it already had an advanced
technology of growing rice and other food materials. And until period in spring
and autumn and warring states, the “a land of milk and honey” pattern had taken
shape. Anhui
food promoted with the development of Huizhou merchants and spread to the whole
country. In Ming and Qing dynasty, Jiangsu
was a reliable taxpaying province. And some books published that time such as
<eating rules of Tong> push the polarization of Jiangsu food.
The northeast area includes Fujian, Guangdong, Taiwan and places surrounded where
Vegetables and fruits, seafood and poultry are abundant. From the end of Qing
dynasty, the evasion of western countries result in the change of food habit
here. Western food made a great influence on the food culture of south of the
Five ridges. Commercial advantages, tradition and atmosphere make the food
culture commercial.
