As China is a huge country, there are many regional differences in cuisine due to differing climates, history, local ingredients, dining customs, etc. Here are some popular dishes.

Kung Pao Chicken

Kung pao chicken is a famous Sichuan-style specialty, popular with both Chinese and foreigners. The major ingredients are diced chicken, dried chili, and fried peanuts (or cashews). People in western countries have created a Western-style kung pao chicken, in which the diced chicken is covered with cornstarch, and vegetables, sweet and sour sauce, and mashed garlic are added.

Sweet and Sour Pork

Sweet and sour pork has a bright orange-red color, and a delicious sweet and sour taste. At the very beginning, there was only sweet and sour pork, but to meet demands, there have been some developments on this dish. Now, the pork can be substituted with other ingredients like chicken, beef, or pork ribs.

Char Siu

In Cantonese, char means “fork” and siu means “to roast”, so char siu means “fork roasted”. It is a kind of Cantonese roast pork. It is eaten with rice or noodles. It is also used as a filling in baozi (a kind of steamed stuffed bun).

Dim Sum

Dim sum is one of the most popular Cantonese cuisine dishes. It contains a large range of small dishes, including dumplings, rolls, cakes, meat, seafood, dessert, and vegetable preparations. There are more than one thousand dim sum dishes in existence today. People of Guangdong are fond of drinking tea in the morning or at lunch. So, they often eat dim sum during their tea parties for breakfast or lunch. It is a popular way to get together with friends and relatives or have social gatherings.

We all scream for ice cream!

Ice cream may be universally appealing, but many countries have their own version of ice cream that’s often not called ice cream. Let’s learn about these tasty “ice creams” around the world and awaken your inner child!

Raspados are the Mexican version of American snow cones (冰沙). But while snow cones are made using overly sweet syrup (糖浆), raspados have real fruits or fresh fruit juices. The sweet and cold treat is everywhere throughout Mexico and sold at street carts (手推车). You won’t find Mexicans eating their raspados in cones since they’re only served in cups.

It may be made of ice, but kakigori, the Japanese version of ice cream, is most definitely not a snow cone. It melts in your mouth just like a creamy ice cream. Chefs make kakigori by shaving ice from ice blocks until it builds into a soft pile. Then, syrups of various flavors, like green tea, strawberry, grape and melon, are added to the ice. Kakigori is almost always served in a bowl, and it’s not unusual to find sweet shops offering toppings as the final touch, most commonly red bean paste or fresh fruit.

Pizza and pasta aside, gelato is considered to be Italy’s food symbol. In fact, visiting the local gelateria is a way of life for Italians. Italian gelato is lower in fat than traditional ice cream and is made with whole milk, eggs, sugar and flavoring — chocolate, hazelnut, pistachio (开心果) or vanilla (香草) ice cream mixed with pieces of chocolate are the most beloved flavors.

An ice cream that doesn’t melt? Yes, that’s exactly what dondurma or Turkish ice cream is. Dondurma has an elastic texture (弹性口感) and buying dondurma is like watching a performance. The men who sell it wear traditional Turkish clothes, twist and turn the ice cream until it lands into the cone to be served. Kids and adults get a kick out of the show.

Do you ever throw away food at home? Have you ever thought about what happens to the food that shops and supermarkets don't sell? Well，you might be shocked to find out that about one third of food produced for humans gets wasted. What's more，around 800 million people in the world don't live a healthy life for lack of food.

Many people in the UK and across the world are trying to do something with this situation. They are trying their best to make use of eatable food that is thrown away.

For example，there is a coffee bar in Leeds (UK) whose meals are all cooked with unsold food from supermarkets. The spare food is turned into delicious food to feed the hungry people of Leeds. Customers   just pay what they can afford or help the bar wash something. In just ten months,10,000 people were fed at this bar.

Besides，the UK's first food waste supermarket opened last year. The supermarket works on a “pay as you feel” basis. Customers pay whatever they want. Some low­income families have said that it has changed their lives.

“Fuel for School” is another food waste project. Spare food from supermarkets such as dairy，vegetables，fruit and bread is used to feed hungry schoolchildren whose families may not be able to afford to buy them lunch.

More coffee bars like Leeds are being opened in other parts of the UK such as Bristol and Manchester，and it is now becoming a worldwide event.

I think this is an amazing step as food waste is one of the world's biggest problems. I also believe that the law should be changed，so that supermarkets don't throw away so much good food.