It’s time to enjoy the special warm porridge (粥) of winter!

In China, the 12th month of the lunar calendar is called La Yue. 【小题1】 After the festival, people begin to get ready for the Spring Festival.

The Laba Festival 2024 falls on Thursday, January 18th, 2024. 【小题2】 To make the porridge nice, people often cook it with eight different things. So the porridge is also called Eight Treasure Porridge. Traditionally, there is rice, red dates, various beans, dried lotus seeds, and different kinds of dried fruits in it. 【小题3】 At midnight, people begin to cook the porridge. After hours of boiling, we can have it the next morning. 【小题4】

Eating Laba porridge on Laba Festival is still an important custom now. Most people like having the porridge because it is not only good for health, but also a blessing for the coming of the Spring Festival. 【小题5】 If not, prepare for it next year! Sharing the porridge with your family is the happiest thing in the world!

In many English homes, people have four meals (餐) a day: breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner.

English people have breakfast from 7:00 to 9:00 in the morning. They eat eggs and bread. They drink tea or milk for breakfast, too. Lunch often comes at about 1:00 in the afternoon. Afternoon tea is from 4:00 to 5:00, and dinner is at about 7:30 in the evening. They often have soup (汤), meat, chicken or fish with vegetables.

After (在……之后) that they often eat some bananas, apples, oranges or some other fruits (水果). But not all English people have meals like that. Some of them don’t have dinner in the evening. All these meals are very simple (简单的). Some people often eat dinner with their friends or families at a restaurant or at homes.

Besides chopsticks vs. knives and forks, there are more differences between Chinese and western dinning.

Cooking methods

While westerners boil, fry roast and bake, Chinese use more methods of cooking, like frying, stewing, boiling and steaming. Besides, Chinese cooks cut everything into small pieces, so people don't need knives to cut it but just pick up their food with chopsticks. Westerners cook food in big pieces and serve it with knives and forks for cutting it up.

Ingredients and spices

Chinese dishes use many ingredients seldom seen in western cooking, like animal feet, ears, tongues and so on. Chinese usually use animal or peanut oil to fry food; westerners use more butter and olive oil. Chinese cooks like to add spices when cooking, like ginger, pepper, garlic, etc. Western cooks usually use pepper powder, mustard（芥末）, and tomato ketchup（番茄酱）, etc.

Serving the dishes

On the western table, vegetable soup or salad is usually served as the starter, then the main course includes beef, chicken or fish. After the main course, normally some sweet food is served, which can be ice cream, cakes, fruits, etc.

On the Chinese table, the cold dishes and drinking are first. After that, kinds of meat and vegetable dishes are served, to be followed by soup. Then Chinese usually have rice, noodles or dumplings as main course. At last, Chinese like having fresh fruit such as watermelons and pears after meal. That can make one feel fresh and cool in his mouth and stomach.

Placing the dishes

In western dinner, dishes are served in each person's own plate. So each person uses a big plate. In China, dishes are served at the middle of the table for all to share, and each person uses a small plate in front of him or her to hold the food.