The Impacts Of Western Food Culture On Contemporary China's Society

Western-style food is the general definition of European and American food for modern Chinese people. In the broad view, it can also be used to refer as the whole western food culture. With the exploring of the great discoveries of geography, industrial revolution and the colonial expansion of capitalism, as an important part of western culture, Western-style food has gradually been spreading in the globe. In the meanwhile, along with the vigorous development of Western science and technology, food processing and storage have increasingly been realized in industrialization production. With the development of chemical and biological science and technology, modern nutritional health concept quickly integrates with the Western food culture, which becomes one of the key features of Western-style food.The real spread of Western-style food in China began in Guangzhou, the only access for exchanges between China and the West before the Opium war. As a result of the defeat of Opium war, Shanghai was forced to open. While it was developing in a staggering speed and soon took the place of Guangzhou as a trade center in China. Chinese western-style restaurant industry center is then moved to Shanghai as well. As the epitome of China, the history of Shanghai represents the modern Chinese history in a considerable extent. In this article, the analysis will focus on Shanghai through in-depth analysis of the developing Chinese diet culture in modern times and modern development of cooking style. And after the second Opium War, the Western-style restaurants also began to appear in the northern areas. With the fashion of consuming foreign goods was first found in these trading cities and then spread gradually, the western-style restaurants extended to inland regions stage by stage.After the Opium War, the Western power forced Qin Government to end up closed-door policy with advanced weapons. Until then, Chinese suddenly recognized that the Western countries were no longer the barbarians, but highly advanced and civilized powers. In the painful process of step by step into colonial or semi-colonial, the superior confidence of Chinese culture was hit badly, even ceased to exist. Under the huge impact of Western civilization, the imported western product and living style which represents Western capitalist material civilization landed into China. As a result, the Chinese society, particularly in those open-treaty ports and their surrounding areas endured a tremendous impact. In the face of butter and cheese, Chinese has experienced the process from indulge in self-admiration to lost themselves, and then to worship everything foreign, and then finally ended in the creative combination of innovation and tradition, gradually moving toward scientific rational road. There was no precedent in history which is as complicated as China. This article takes "chopsticks" and "fork" as the important symbols of the Chinese and Western "food culture" and aims to provide a depth-analysis of their impression of each other and own Cultural and psychological changes from both sides'views.After the western food came into China, Chinese food culture has changed profoundly. Those imported western food extremely has enriched Chinese people's dieting life and also has expanded the food market. Meanwhile, Chinese-owned national food industry has obtained opportunities to rise and develop rapidly. With understanding of the Western-style food, Chinese people also start to think about the differences of food and dietary habits between China and the West. As a result, the concepts about health and nutrition gradually win support among Chinese people. All changes that have been motioned above play important roles in improving the health level of Chinese. At the same time, the elegant, advanced and civilized western table etiquette has also led Chinese people to review and rethink their traditions and brought significant influences to etiquette social processes of nowadays.