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6฀ Meals in the Households of Liaoning As we have seen, o n th e nationa l and provincia l scale , China indeed display s a rural/urba n contras t i n economi c aspect s o f diet . Bu t wha t d o Chines e people really eat? What is Chinese food like in China? Are Chinese tastes really changing in line with the preferred food s amon g better-off citizens ? For tha t information, we must look at food an d nutrition at a very local scale by asking the people themselves. The sample of individual households from who m thi s information cam e represent s place s o f varying economi c developmen t an d urbanization levels , a s Terry McGe e (1989 , 1991a ) describe d i n hi s model . Thus, thes e household s represen t no t just a rural/urba n divide , but severa l levels of economi c developmen t an d urbanizatio n withi n th e rura l areas . I n the McGee model , which is based on economi c factors, thes e different kind s of regions form a continuum between the city and the least developed, sparsely populated frontier . Doe s thi s continuu m als o appl y t o food , nutrition , an d foodways? In the first section, we look at the task of collecting the data set itself. The second sectio n use s this information t o examin e th e intak e o f a selection o f nutrients, and , th e thir d section , t o se e variations i n th e specifi c food s tha t households choos e t o eat . A n examinatio n o f th e cultura l trai t o f assigne d eating-related task s follows , an d th e chapte r conclude s wit h a summar y o f dietary regimes . The Fiel d Stud y Fieldwork wit h individua l household s wa s the onl y way to see what Chines e people really eat on a day-to-day basis (Quandt, 1987 ; Wan, 1996; Zhai, 1996). Throughout China, the individual household is the unit of food consumption , and sinc e the reforms tha t began in 1978 , it is the unit of production a s well. The househol d i s also th e uni t o f dietar y decisio n makin g a t severa l levels : 116฀Changing ฀Rice ฀Bowl-฀Economic ฀Development ฀and ฀Diet ฀in ฀China฀ what to grow, what to buy, and what to cook for any given meal. Furthermore , on-site visits to the peopl e an d thei r home s offered a n invaluabl e dimensio n in understandin g thei r live s and culture , which hav e a great impact o n thei r foodways (Quandt , 1987 ; Wilson, 1977) . Th e field surve y was designe d t o gather information o n specific choices of foods for individual meals and snacks. It consisted o f interviews to collect general information abou t the family an d its situation (Wilson , 1977: 64) and food diarie s (Quandt , 1987 ; Wilson, 1977 ) in which a member of the household recorde d what foods were eaten at each meal ove r a specific time period . The Choice of Liaoning To measure th e degre e o f cultura l change , a s reflected i n foodways tha t ar e related t o economi c developmen t i n China , require s informatio n abou t a n area that has undergone this process, at least in some places. Liaoning Province was among the first parts of China to be industrialized, although th e buildin g of industry was the work of foreigners (Chapte r 5) . It formed a major bas e of heavy industr y fo r th e People' s Republic . Mor e recently , unde r th e Dengis t reforms, it has benefited from it s coastal location in attracting investment both from Chin a an d abroad . Consequendy , McGe e (1991a ) foun d south-centra l Liaoning to be an example of desakotadesasi (zhenxianghua) development , an d Zhou (1991 ) cite d i t as an interlockin g metropolita n region . The Choices of Research Sites Research site s specificall y wer e chose n t o illustrat e th e type s o f region s i n McGee's (1989 , 1991a...

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