Traditional breakfast in China usually consists of rice porridge {zhou or congee) often accompanied by pickles and youtiao (deep-fried dough sticks), along with steamed buns, served plain or with fillings. This is usu- ally washed down with hot soybean milk, sweetened or plain. Other dishes can include rice-noodle soups, boiled eggs, fried peanuts and dumplings.

Most hotels have breakfast buffets, often included in the room price. These can be very simple affairs, serving just peanuts and congee, to fancy spreads with Western 'highlights' such as toast, jam, boxed cereal and coffee.

The Chinese generally eat lunch between 11.30am and 2pm, many taking their midday meal from any number of small eateries on the streets. For Chinese on the run, lunch and dinner generally consist of rice or noodles, topped with a vegetable and/or some meat. For more formal affairs with family and friends, lunch and dinner usually consist of several meat and vegetable dishes and a soup. Banquets can be overwhelming affairs, with 20- to 30-course dinners being common.

The Chinese do not generally eat dessert, but fruit is considered to be an appropriate end to a good meal. Western influence has added ice cream to the menu in some upmarket establishments, but in general sweet stuff is consumed as snacks and is seldom available in restaurants. One exception to the rule is caramelised fruits, including apples (basi pingguo) and bananas (basi xiangjiao) which you can find in a few res- taurants. Other sweeties include shaved ice and syrup (bingsha), a sweet, sticky rice pudding known as eight-treasures rice (babao fan), and vari- ous types of steamed buns filled with sweet bean paste.

Rice

There's a saying in Chinese that 'precious things are not pearls or jade but the five grains'. An old legend about the origin of rice claims that rice is actually a gift from the animals. The story goes that centuries ago, China was overswept by floods which destroyed all the crops and caused mas- sive starvation. One day, some villagers saw a dog running towards them. On the dog's tail were bunches of long yellow seeds. When the villagers planted the seeds, the rice grew and hunger disappeared.