Last name 1 American is a diverse country. Many ethnic groups such as Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, and many others from different nations and cultures currently reside in the US. When the first ethnic group arrived in America, the situation was not as optimism as today. During that time, there were serious and intense cultural conflicts between the Americans and immigrants. With time, the conditions changed, and the conflicts declined. Nowadays, the media presents a diverse America by airing shows and commercials where people from different cultures assume acting roles. For instance, some shows have actors eating Chinese ethnic foods, Jewish people celebrating their festival in Chinese restaurants. More so, in his article Chandler (2014) notes that “American and Jews have made it a custom to overindulge on Chinese food over the Christmas festive season among other important holidays” (pp. 4) People from different countries fill many ethnic restaurants. The relationship between Americans and ethnic groups is getting better, especially the relationship with Chinese immigrants. All the examples mentioned before, portray the role of ethnic foods towards improving interactions between Americans and immigrants. Among all the ethnic groups, the gap between American conscious and Chinese conscious is huge. However, in recent years, it has a dramatically improved. Today, most Americans like Chinese ethnic foods. The taste of the Chinese delicacies attracts them to go to the China town and find a good restaurant. This has generated more culture and culinary crossing in this process, which has enhanced the understanding across two different cultures and even contributed to the elimination of the existing boundaries. 　　　　In chaos theory, the butterfly effect illustrates a tiny change will bring huge differences. The theory can be used to explain how special dishes gave huge contributions towards promoting the relationship between two different cultures. In the late 19th century, the phrase, "they say" appeared. Chop Suey is one of the Chinese ethnic foods and a popular dish on the menu. However, back to the late 19th century, Americans treated "chop suey" as a joke of culinary. Americans held prejudice to Chinese culture, which prevented them from trying Chinese foods and restaurants. The situation changed by the influence of "chop suey". The attitudes and impressions toward to Chinese immigrants improved because they "fall in love" with the "chop suey". They started to adapt Chinese groups and eating Chinese ethnic foods. In Samantha Barbas's article; "I'll Take Chop Suey": Restaurants as Agents of Culinary and Cultural Change. She illustrated how "chop suey" contributed to the culture and culinary crossing between American and Chinese ethnic groups. "An American, who once falls under the spell of chop suey may forget all about Chinese things for a while, and suddenly a strange craving arises and he finds that his feet carrying him to Mott Street ...

1. Last name 1
American is a diverse country. Many ethnic groups such as
Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, and many others from different
nations and cultures currently reside in the US. When the first
ethnic group arrived in America, the situation was not as
optimism as today. During that time, there were serious and
intense cultural conflicts between the Americans and
immigrants. With time, the conditions changed, and the
conflicts declined. Nowadays, the media presents a diverse
America by airing shows and commercials where people from
different cultures assume acting roles. For instance, some shows
have actors eating Chinese ethnic foods, Jewish people
celebrating their festival in Chinese restaurants. More so, in his
article Chandler (2014) notes that “American and Jews have
made it a custom to overindulge on Chinese food over the
Christmas festive season among other important holidays” (pp.
4) People from different countries fill many ethnic restaurants.
The relationship between Americans and ethnic groups is
getting better, especially the relationship with Chinese
immigrants. All the examples mentioned before, portray the role
of ethnic foods towards improving interactions between
Americans and immigrants. Among all the ethnic groups, the
gap between American conscious and Chinese conscious is
huge. However, in recent years, it has a dramatically improved.
Today, most Americans like Chinese ethnic foods. The taste of
the Chinese delicacies attracts them to go to the China town and
find a good restaurant. This has generated more culture and
culinary crossing in this process, which has enhanced the
understanding across two different cultures and even
contributed to the elimination of the existing boundaries.
In chaos theory, the butterfly effect illustrates a tiny
change will bring huge differences. The theory can be used to

2. explain how special dishes gave huge contributions towards
promoting the relationship between two different cultures. In
the late 19th century, the phrase, "they say" appeared. Chop
Suey is one of the Chinese ethnic foods and a popular dish on
the menu. However, back to the late 19th century, Americans
treated "chop suey" as a joke of culinary. Americans held
prejudice to Chinese culture, which prevented them from trying
Chinese foods and restaurants. The situation changed by the
influence of "chop suey". The attitudes and impressions toward
to Chinese immigrants improved because they "fall in love"
with the "chop suey". They started to adapt Chinese groups and
eating Chinese ethnic foods. In Samantha Barbas's article; "I'll
Take Chop Suey": Restaurants as Agents of Culinary and
Cultural Change. She illustrated how "chop suey" contributed to
the culture and culinary crossing between American and
Chinese ethnic groups. "An American, who once falls under the
spell of chop suey may forget all about Chinese things for a
while, and suddenly a strange craving arises and he finds that
his feet carrying him to Mott Street"(Barbers 675). Chop suey
changed the mind of Americans through their taste buds. It
helped Americans take the first step to getting close to
understanding the Chinese culture. To find chop suey, the
Americans have to go to the China town or in a place that
Chinese immigrants gathered. Whether the Americans are
willing or not, they have known more and more Chinese
lifestyles and living conditions since they accepted "chop suey."
Due to the "chop suey", their impression to Chinese foods
improved; they started to seek many other Chinese ethnic foods.
In this progress, the boundaries between these two cultures
diffused gradually.
Food is one of the best ways to build the connection
between two people, two cultures, and even two countries. For
example, Chinese people are fond of Korean food. China has
several Korean restaurants where Koreans own most. Due to
that reason, Chinese people love Korean food, their impression,

3. attitudes toward Koreans are very good, more, and more
Chinese people have accepted Korean culture. In his article,
‘Korean Cusine Popular in China,’ Liping Gu interviewed many
people on the street, and many of the replies read, "People like
the taste of Korean food"(Gu). However, the issue is that
Americans do not like the ingredients of traditional Chinese
foods. As a result, Chinese ethnic restaurants are forced to make
several changes to the traditional Chinese dishes to attract
American customers. They have changed the ingredients, the
cooking methods, and tastes for foods. “Chinese people only fry
food occasionally" (Yan), most Americanized Chinese food is
mainly cooked through frying. One can find such evidence in
the article by Xiaoyu Yan that discusses changes that Chinese
restaurants have made to satisfy American customers. They
have bridged culture gaps by changing the traditional part of
their dishes. Where there is a huge cultural conflict between two
countries, one of them needs to have some change and to try to
get close to the other. For example, if a person is living in
another’s house, he or she needs to change part of his or her
lifestyle to fit in the households. Chinese restaurants in the U.S
have done all these changes. Chinese immigrants in the US is
like the person live in another’s house, so Chinese need to
change to blend in the American life. They have changed and
built bridges between them and the U.S culture.
Not only has Chinese ethnic food changed for
Americans, but also Americans' taste worldwide. Though some
changes in the ingredients and cooking methods would have
been necessary, the original tastes and attributes of Chinese
dishes should not have been altered. On American dinner table,
there are not only pizzas or burgers nowadays, but people also
eat rice, noodles and even use chopsticks. Andrew Coe used to
travel through the US, and he wrote in his book "American Jews
fell in love with egg rolls and chow mein "(Andrew). Chinese
ethnic food is more and more popular nowadays, and most
Americans love the favor chop suey as well as many other

4. dishes on the Chinese menus. Their eating habits and choices
are constantly changing. In other words, Chinese ethnic food
enriched Americans’ taste buds.
Furthermore, food can also be used to clear culture
identities. Food is part of a culture or even could be considered
a culture. The cooking method reflects the common characters
of people in a country. For example, Chinese people usually
cook very carefully, and the cooking methods are very
complicated. This exposes the common characteristic of Chinese
people; that is trying to be perfect in everything. The food taste
has helped in identifying the living habits of different countries;
Chinese people love chili, but Americans love sweets and salts.
Moreover, food also reflects the history of a country. In
China, there are many varieties of food. Each city has their
favorite flavors and culinary and that reflects Chinese
traditional foods developed through a very long history. An
article, written by Patricia Jimenez Kwast and Ji Hae Kim,
whose title is Putting Mexican Cuisine on the Table: The
Cultural Dimension of Cuisine as Connecting Point addresses
this issue. The authors concluded that "However, most people
qualified their original statement after some thought, adding
that food and restaurants could potentially act as cultural
ambassadors" (Jimenez & Kim). An ambassador is the image of
a company, a group, or even a country; it helps a country
differentiate itself from other countries. It is obvious that food
and restaurants are associated with a country unique identity
that helps other countries know its characteristics and
differences.
In conclusion, a tiny little thing can make a huge
different. Ethnic foods in America are countless and come from
different countries as well as represent different cultures.
Chinese ethnic foods changed its attributes, which bridged the

5. gap between American and Chinese ethnic groups. It eliminated
the boundaries between Chinese immigrants and Americans. It
changed the situation where Americans did not accept Chinese
ethnic groups. Ethnic foods and restaurants helped ethnic
groups to claim their positions in the U. S as different and
unique from other nations and cultures.