If a lotus plant (water lily) were given to the Chinese, they would eat the whole thing—leaves for flavoring, seeds in dessert, roots in soup, dried flowers in meat, stems in salad and embryos and stamens for medicine.

There’re numerous Chinese delicacies cooked with taros, ranging from staple dishes to dessert and even dim sum.

A Chinese steelyard is an instrument used to measure weight. Chinese steelyard balance with ivory beam, brass pan and counterpoise.

Tofu, or bean curd, is made by adding a coagulant to soy milk - the liquid extracted from boiled and crushed soy beans. It is usually made into blocks about two-inches deep. The bean curd, called "doufu" in China, is often offered in water-packed barrels. It should be refrigerated immediately after being purchased and used within a week.

Soy foods play a prevalent role in today's health community. It's thought that the first written record of soybeans is dated 2838 b.c., and the Chinese have been cultivating them for thousands of years. Native to China, the soybean is a legume, like the peanut. Unlike other legumes, the soybean is low in carbohydrates and yields high-quality protein and edible oils. In East Asia, soybeans are used in a multitude of forms, e.g., as soy sauce, soybean meal, vegetable oil, tofu (bean curd), miso (fermented soybean paste), and soy milk, and as a coffee substitute.

The crisp and tender shoots of bamboo plant, native to Asia, is a popular item in Chinese cuisine, which give a sweetness and crunch to many dishes, especially stir fries. Edible bamboo shoots fall into two broad categories, winter and spring shoots. Though spring shoots are fatter, winter bamboo shoots are more desirable because of their extreme tenderness. Commercially canned bamboo shoots are common, but fresh, locally grown bamboo has far better flavor and texture.

Bitter melon is perhaps the most bitter of vegetables. A member of the squash family native to southern China, being easily recognized by its shiny, fleshy and peculiar warty-looking surface, irregular ridges and bumps run the length of the fruit.Bitter melon has long been thought to have medicinal value. It is rich in iron, calcium, potassium, vitamins C and B1 to 3, phosphorus and good dietary fiber, believed to be food for liver, and has been proven by western scientists to contain insulin, act as an anti-tumor agent, and inhibit HIV-1 infection.

The use of lotus root as food has a history of three to five thousand years in Chinese cookery. Being a common ingredients used in autumn and winter dishes, lotus root is frequently used by cooks especially in Anhui province in south eastern China to make appetizers, soups, stir-fry dishes and desserts.

Throughout Chinese history, healthcare was not the responsibility of the state but rather the responsibility of every ordinary citizen. People used their own resources to find cures when they became sick. Eating well and healthy is almost a national obsession and definitely the most valued activity of family life. In autumn, the weather is dry which, according to TCM, mostly affects the lungs. It is advisable to eat more food with sour flavors and reduce pungent flavors.

Being tasty source of vitamins and minerals, pumpkins are frequently used in Chinese cooking, and are prepared in a great variety of ways, from rice, entrées, soups to dissert and dim sum