All around the world, people drink tea. But tea does not mean the same thing to everyone. In different countries, people have very different ideas about drinking tea.

    In China, for example, people always drink tea when they are getting together. They drink it at any time of the day at homes or in teahouses. They prefer plain tea, with nothing else in it.

    Tea is also important in Japan. The Japanese have a special way of serving tea called tea ceremony（茶道）. It is very old and full of meaning. Everything must be done in a special way in the ceremony. There is even a special room for it in Japanese homes.

    Another tea-drinking country is England. In England, the late afternoon is "tea time". Almost everyone has a cup of tea then. The English usually make tea in a teapot and drink it with milk and sugar. They also eat cakes, cookies and a few sandwiches at teatime. This is the so-called "Afternoon Tea" in Britain.

    In the United States, people drink tea mostly for breakfast or after meals. Americans usually use tea bags to make their tea. Tea bags are faster and easier than making tea in teapots. In summer, many Americans drink cold tea—"iced tea". Sometimes they drink canned iced tea, just as soda.

    In a map of the world you can easily find two big cities, London and New York. London is the biggest city in Europe. New York is the biggest city in America. The streets in London are crowded and there is one of the world's biggest underground railway systems(地铁系统) .The streets in New York are just as crowded as those in London. And the New York subway carries more people each day than the London underground. There are a lot of big stores in these two cities. But New York has more supermarkets than London.

    In London there are many palaces(宫殿) and churches, for example, St. Paul's. New York isn't as old as London, and it hasn't got many old buildings. But its skyscrapers(摩天大楼) are much bigger than the buildings in London.

    London has more parks than New York, But New York's Central Park is much bigger than the biggest park in London.

    Besides chopsticks vs. knives and forks, there are more differences between Chinese and western dinning.

    Cooking methods

    While westerners boil, fry roast and bake, Chinese use more methods of cooking, like frying, stewing, boiling and steaming. Besides, Chinese cooks cut everything into small pieces, so people don't need knives to cut it but just pick up their food with chopsticks. Westerners cook food in big pieces and serve it with knives and forks for cutting it up.

    Ingredients and spices

    Chinese dishes use many ingredients seldom seen in western cooking, like animal feet, ears, tongues and so on. Chinese usually use animal or peanut oil to fry food; westerners use more butter and olive oil. Chinese cooks like to add spices when cooking, like ginger, pepper, garlic, etc. Western cooks usually use pepper powder, mustard(芥末), and tomato ketchup(番茄酱), etc.

    Serving the dishes

    On the western table, vegetable soup or salad is usually served as the starter, then the main course includes beef, chicken or fish. After the main course, normally some sweet food is served, which can be ice cream, cakes, fruits, etc.

    On the Chinese table, the cold dishes and drinking are first. After that, kinds of meat and vegetable dishes are served, to be followed by soup. Then Chinese usually have rice, noodles or dumplings as main course. At last, Chinese like having fresh fruit such as watermelons and pears after meal. That can make one feel fresh and cool in his mouth and stomach.

    Placing the dishes

    In western dinner, dishes are served in each person's own plate. So each person uses a big plate. In China, dishes are served at the middle of the table for all to share, and each person uses a small plate in front of him or her to hold the food.