Japanese food and cooking evolved influenced mostly by the particular geography the country has. Meat does not make a large contribution to the culinary history; fish, seaweed, rice, and soy do.
In many cultures, eating is a means of providing sustenance for the body. That is true in Chinese cuisine as well, of course. But for the Chinese, dining is a much larger part of life. It is an art used as part of a celebration, even when attached to no special event.
Noodles are, to indulge an obvious pun, a staple of Chinese dishes. Whether Cantonese or Mandarin, Hunan or Szechuan, some type of noodle is almost always found in breakfast, lunch or dinner recipes.
Asian cuisines hold a special fascination for travelers and home cooks. Food in Asia is a festival of scents and flavors; after all, many of the world's spices come from there.
