I clearly remember one experience in China that opened my eyes to the way food can cross cultures. A Chinese friend had rushed me to a restaurant in Beijing, showed me a famous dish. I was promised something unique, something that I had never seen before and that would change the way I thought about food forever.

What I was given was a bowl of ban mian. Although delicious, I couldn’t help feeling I had tried this dish before. As I twisted the noodles with my chopsticks, it hit me: is this not just Spaghetti (意大利面) with Chinese characteristics?

I had grown up hearing stories of the Italian explorer Marco Polo bringing back pasta (意式面食) from his journeys in China in the 13th century. But the truth may be that pasta had been taken to Europe from China a lot earlier, possibly helped by Arab traders moving across Central Asia. British Spaghetti Bolognese is evidence that this type of food didn’t stop changing.

The first bites of my meal made me consider the historical journey of the noodle. As my father’s family were Italian, spaghetti was never far away. I remember one lesson clearly from my grandma. That is the only way to tell if spaghetti is cooked properly is by throwing it at the wall. If it sticks, it’s ready to eat. If it falls, it still needs time to cook. I wondered to myself whether the walls of the kitchen at this restaurant were covered by spaghetti.

【推荐3】Whenever I travel to western countries, the same problem always presents itself to slurp (出声地吃) or not to slurp when I eat with Westerners.

When you travel abroad, it is reasonable to consider the need to respect and follow certain table manners. For example, you should not talk with your mouth full. It will make people feel quite uncomfortable in most countries.

In addition, every culture has their own rules at the dining table. For example, eating with your left hand isn’t allowed in India. In Chinese culture, you’re not supposed to stick chopsticks into the food.

Having stayed in France for several weeks, I was very careful about my table manners. However, I got back to my own ways slowly as time went by. I made myself a bowl of noodles and ate it in the traditional Chinese way, which meant I slurped through it till my bowl was totally empty.

When planning and serving a great Chinese meal, the cook often tries to make sure the dishes look, smell and taste great. This means the diner often slurps to show how much they have enjoyed their meal. I do agree that eating loudly like a cow is without doubt the most unwelcome dining behavior, no matter how delicious the food is. But there is one habit which I would be unwilling to break: slurping soup and noodles. To most Chinese people there’s no better expression of enjoying well-cooked food. And we should try to make people understand that while some of these traditions might appear strange, they are special and have their own values, and that people sometimes do it out of habit and without any purpose of offending (冒犯) others.

Nowadays, different cultures are making a great difference to one another. We work, live, study and even marry people from different backgrounds. There is totally no need to feel embarrassed about your cultural behavior, as long as they are harmless and acceptable.

【推荐3】14-year-old Jo Hale is in a middle school in the northeast of England. She has to wear the school uniform every day.

When Jo was in primary school, she could wear trousers as part of the uniforms. But when she went to the middle school, she found that girls couldn’t wear them anymore. Jo didn’t like it because she felt cold in winter. Though many girls had the problem, the school didn’t change its rules about uniforms. Jo said,“If you are in class doing your work, what difference does it make if you are wearing trousers?”

Jo’s mother, Claire, a teacher at a university, also agreed that the rules about uniforms in her daughter’s school were not that good.“The women teachers can wear trousers, but the girl students can’t,”she said.“Trousers are more practical (实用的) in fact. They are warmer in winter and cheaper to wear than a skirt.”

Claire tried to talk Jo’s school leaders (领导) out of that, and finally, they changed the rules. Now Jo and the other girls at the school can wear skirts or trousers as they like.