On the afternoon of 10 February 2022, the School of International Exchange invited Dr Han Xi from Peking University to give a lecture on Chinese food culture to international students online.

The traditional Chinese food culture has a long history. As the Chinese say, if you have enough granaries, you know your manners and if you have enough food and clothing, you know your honour and disgrace, food has gradually become the prerequisite and basis for the emergence of spiritual civilisation, which is also an important part of the unique Chinese food culture.

Dr Han Xi introduced the social functions of food culture, the eight major cuisines of China, the flavours of food from different parts of China, and the etiquette of the Chinese table manners. Dr Han Xi said that in the course of thousands of years of history, food has long ceased to be a means of filling the stomach. China is a vast country and has developed distinctive regional cuisines influenced by its geographical environment, climate and products, cultural traditions and ethnic customs. These cultural accumulations and the structure of the cuisine have continued to this day, forming a unique food culture and a profound food culture connotation for the Chinese nation. The international students said that it was very interesting to talk about culture from the perspective of food and that they could not wait to come to China to taste Chinese food for themselves.