What Do Chinese Children Eat - Creative Chinese Club

China–Culture–Language–Lifestyle–Modern China

November 1, 2023

Hot Dog and Frozen Kitty did a food tour across China. They discovered what Chinese children have for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and desserts. They can’t wait to share and introduce their new friends to you!

#1: Yuan Yuan’s Breakfast

My name is Yuan Yuan. My little sister is called Xiao Hua (Little Flower). We live in Shenzhen, the Silicon Valley of China.

Source of Shenzhen city illustration

Every day, our mom wakes up at 6 o’clock to make us breakfast. She is very big on a healthy and balanced diet. Therefore our breakfast will always have fruits, vegetables, and congee. Usually, it takes her 40-60 minutes to prepare.

Chinese people usually cook vegetables instead of having them raw.
Congee is a type of porridge made by boiling rice in a large amount of water until the rice softens.

#2: Sugar Pea’s Lunch

My nickname is Sugar Pea. We live in Shanghai, a mega city in China. Some people say it’s like the Chinese version of New York. My mom is a journalist with two hobbies: cooking and rock climbing. Sometimes I go rock climbing with her and sometimes I help her cook.

Source of Shanghai city illustration

This is the lunch box my mom prepares for me. It has corn, chicken nuggets with onion, cherry tomatoes, and various types of nuts. We usually have lunch in school around 12 p.m. The kitchen in our school will heat the lunch boxes we bring. Chinese people are used to having hot meals.

#3: Sugar Pea’s Dinner

Winter is coming and my favorite dinner is Hot Pot. My mom will lay out thinly sliced meat, chopped vegetables, and seafood on each plate. We will boil the soup, dip these raw ingredients in the boiling soup, and eat them as soon as they are cooked.

Sometimes we will watch sports or TV shows while having Hot Pot. It is a great way to share food and spend time with family and friends.

#4: Star Wild’s Dessert

My name is Xing Ye which means star wild. My dad, mom and I love playing games together.

I am three years old and Chinese children from 3 to 5 years old go to kindergartens. There are teachers from all over the world in my kindergarten. I was a little afraid to see foreign teachers at the beginning.

One day, Dad said ‘Let’s take some toys and play in the kindergarten’. That day I played a ‘teacher’ role to teach my teachers. Afterward, I grew comfortable with people who look different.

For desserts, we have fresh fruits instead of cakes and pastries. Our kindergarten starts on 1 September. To welcome us back, our teachers let us touch different fruits and choose what we like. I chose persimmons and pears.