Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,

It is my great pleasure to attend this awards ceremony. There are more than 40,000 Chinese restaurants in the US. We can imagine how hard it is to get into the top 100. So first of all, my congratulations to all of the winning restaurants!

Chinese cuisine has a long history and Chinese cookery has developed and matured over the centuries. Now Chinese cuisine is renowned around the world for its harmonious integration of diversified colors, aromatic flavor, excellent taste and beautifully cut shape and serving pattern.

But Chinese cuisine is more than that. Our ancestors had found out the strong connection between food and one’s health back in early times of China’s history. Good cuisine has the effect of prolonging life, sustaining the constitution and promoting energy. To eat for health has long been China’s tradition and is the eating habit in our daily life. We sometimes also apply food treatment to cure some kinds of illness. Therefore, a good Chinese chef is a master in making the food not only good to look, good to eat, but also good to health.

Chinese cuisine is also a representative of Chinese culture. China’s long history and diversity in regions, climate, habitude, and so on enrich the historical and cultural content of Chinese cuisine. Many names of Chinese courses actually tell historical stories and cultural contents behind. So are the cooking methods. Ladies and gentlemen, when you are served with Chinese cuisine, you are served not only delicious food, but also an invitation to explore China’s culture. Chinese restaurants are windows, through which restaurant customers will see our culture. I hope all Chinese restaurants operators will help to introduce more Chinese Culture in their own ways to more foreign friends so as to promote their understanding, particularly American people’s understanding of China. I do think Chinese restaurants have a role to play in building up a bridge connecting China to the US, and the rest of the world.

Again I am so delighted to be here today. And I sincerely with everyone present here good health, and all Chinese restaurants successful business.

Thank you all.

发言人：施泳――中华人民共和国驻纽约副总领事（Shi Yong, Vice Consul-General, Consulate General of the People’s Republic of China in New York）