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Food and drink

What people order, cook and share, in everyday Mandarin.

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Every reading sits at the level where most of its words are taught

HSK 167 readings HSK 232 readings HSK 328 readings HSK 435 readings HSK 519 readings HSK 620 readings

31 readings

Article · 2 min audio豆腐是谁发明的？Who invented tofu? The legend of Liu AnA prince tried to make a medicine to live forever. He failed, the story goes, but what came out of his pot is on dinner tables two thousand years later.HSK 4

Article · 3 min audio苏东坡：诗人和吃货Su Dongpo, poet and cook: the story behind Dongpo porkDongpo pork is named after a poet. He was jailed, sent ever further from the capital, and cooked his way through every exile.HSK 6

Story · 1 min audio一米长的茶壶At a Chinese tea house: the metre-long teapotIn a Chengdu tea house, the waiter pours from a teapot with a spout a metre long. Mark thinks he's standing much too far away, and decides to help.HSK 2

Article · 1 min audio月饼里面有什么？What are mooncakes?A red box of little round cakes, a festival under the full moon, and an egg where you least expect one.HSK 2

Article · 1 min audio端午节：龙舟和粽子What is the Dragon Boat Festival?Boats with dragon heads, a poet in a river two thousand years ago, and the one question about rice dumplings that starts arguments.HSK 2

Article · 1 min audio生日为什么吃长寿面？Why do Chinese people eat noodles on birthdays?You expect a birthday cake. You get a bowl of noodles, an egg, and a friend watching to make sure you don't bite a single strand in two.HSK 2

Article · 2 min audio筷子最早是用来吃饭的吗？The history of chopsticksThe oldest chopsticks were probably for cooking, not eating. And their Chinese name comes from boatmen who were afraid of one word.HSK 4

Story · 1 min audio四杯咖啡How to order coffee in Chinese (and get four)Her first morning in Beijing. One sentence, practised all the way to the café. Then the girl at the counter starts asking questions.HSK 1

Article · 1 min audio送什么水果？Fruits in Chinese: why apples, and why never share a pearWhy do young people in China give apples on Christmas Eve? And why won't two friends share a pear? The hidden meanings of fruit in Chinese.HSK 1

Story · 1 min audio吃不完的饭A Chinese family dinner that never endsHer boyfriend's first dinner with her family. Grandma, Mum and Dad keep filling his bowl. He doesn't know the rule.HSK 1

Story · 1 min audio先放什么？Cooking tomato and egg: which goes in first?His first dinner alone: tomato and egg. One question for Mum. Mum and Dad have two different answers, and neither is giving up.HSK 1

Story · 1 min audio星期三的鱼School lunch: Wednesday’s fishEvery Wednesday the school lunch is fish, and I hate fish. The boy next to me loves it. The teacher thinks we both eat everything.HSK 1