中西饮食文化对比,以下的参考：

　　ThemaindifferencebetweenChineseandWesterneatinghabitsisthatunliketheWest,whereeveryonehastheirownplateoffood,inChinathedishesareplacedonthetableandeverybodyshares.IfyouarebeingtreatedbyaChinesehost,bepreparedforatonoffood.Chineseareveryproudoftheircultureoffoodandwilldotheirbesttogiveyouatasteofmanydifferenttypesofcuisine.Amongfriends,theywilljustorderenoughforthepeoplethere.Iftheyaretakingsomebodyoutfordinnerandtherelationshipispolitetosemi-polite,thentheywillusuallyorderonemoredishthanthenumberofguests(e.g.fourpeople,fivedishes).Ifitisabusinessdinneroraveryformaloccasion,thereislikelytobeahugeamountoffoodthatwillbeimpossibletofinish.

　　Atypicalmealstartswithsomecolddishes,likeboiledpeanutsandsmashedcucumberwithgarlic.Thesearefollowedbythemaincourses,hotmeatandvegetabledishes.Finallysoupisbroughtout,whichisfollowedbythestarchy"staple"food,whichisusuallyriceornoodlesorsometimesdumplings.ManyChineseeatrice(ornoodlesorwhatever)last,butifyouliketohaveyourricetogetherwithotherdishes,youshouldsaysoearlyon.

　　Everythingisrelative,culturaldifferencebeingnoexception.Culture,asthetotalpatternofhumanbehavioranditsproducts,overstepsgeographicallimitsandhistoricalconditionsinmanyways,anditischaracterizedbyitsstrongpenetrativenessandfusibility.

　　Itisnosurprisetoseephenomenacharacteristicofonecultureexistinginanother.Asaresult,somepeopleevenfearthattheworldwillbecomeadullplacewhenallthedifferentnationalitiesbehaveexactlyalike.

　　Nevertheless,the“culturalsediment”formedthroughlong-rangeaccumulationisnottobeeasilyremoved,andtheculturaltraditionhandeddownfromgenerationtogenerationshowsgreatconsistencyandcontinuity.Theculturesofdifferentregionsandnationsstillhavetheirowndistinctivepeculiarities,andthereforesignificancestillneedstobeattachedtothestudyoftheindividualitiesofdifferentculturesagainstthebackgroundoftheiruniversality.