When cold winter days seem grey, nothing is better than a nice hot pot meal to warm and cheer you up.

Hot pot has a long history. It is the most popular type of food in China, according to a survey by the consumer review website Dianping. com. There are about 350, 000 hot pot restaurants around the country.

While enjoying a hot pot meal, customers sit around a table and eat from a steaming pot. They put meat, seafood, tofu and bean noodles in the soup to boil. Meat, especially beef is often cut as thin as paper, so it should not be cooked too long. Otherwise, it will lose its taste. There are many kinds of soup types to choose from: spicy, mushroom and tomato. Usually a hot pot has two parts inside. One side is spicy, while the other side is not so spicy. So everyone can enjoy eating it how they like.

You don’t have to master great cooking skills to enjoy hot pot, either. When the food is ready, take it out and put it in different sauces to give it a special flavor(口味). Some also drink the soup from the pot.

Enjoying hot pot is about more than just eating. While the pot cooks, people talk and drink. Unlike some meals, it creates an atmosphere (氛围). Where everyone can just relax. No wonder hot restaurants have become a favourite place to get together for friends and family in China.

With a long history to go, a different form to cook as well as a typical way to eat, hot pot is more than food but a part of our Chinese life.