When Leng Jingyi was a small girl, she had to wait for the annual Chinese Spring Festival to indulge in her favourite dishes.

It was the one time of the year when the Shanghai-native got to eat dumplings filled with pork and crab, “eight-treasure” duck or river shrimps in vinegar.

But the huge shift in the country's eating habits over the past two decades has turned the special into the routine. “We can now eat meat, fish or shrimp every day, if we want to,” explains the 25-year-old translator. “We do not need to wait for New Year any more.”

Even in the late 1980s, many Chinese still relied on rationing cards for some essential foods and would store up special items for Chinese New Year. Now many are able to fill their newly bought fridges with ever-larger portions of protein that were either too expensive or too scarce in the past.
As incomes have risen, imported foods and habits have also started to influence Chinese life. Residents of big cities can buy foreign goods at Carrefour and Wal-Mart, and Shanghai is about to get its first Marks & Spencer.

Leng likes to meet up with her friends for coffee at Starbucks, drinks Coca-Cola with her meals and treats herself to cakes and pastries every now and again – something that before was reserved only for birthdays. Many Chinese of her generation are now taking baking lessons, she says, so that they can make their children cookies, brownies and muffins. She does not have an oven at home, but says proudly: “My fiancee and I plan to buy an apartment equipped with an oven.” Dairy goods – especially milk and yogurt – are also quickly becoming popular, although from a low base.

With basic needs satisfied, Leng and her family now look overseas to spice up the Spring Festival feast. This year she helped out by making an Italian pasta dish. “It is actually very simple to prepare,” she says, “and it allowed my parents to experience something exotic and unusual.”

当冷静宜（音译）还是个小女孩的时候，每年她都要等到过春节才能尽情享用她最喜欢的菜肴。

每年也只有这个时节，上海人才能吃上猪肉和蟹肉馅的饺子、“八宝鸭”或是醋浸河虾。

但在过去二十年间，中国的饮食传统发生了巨大变化，往日的珍馐佳肴已变成了家常便饭。这位25岁的翻译说：“只要我们想吃，现在天天都能吃上肉、鱼或是虾，不用非得等到过年。”

即使在上世纪80年代末期，许多中国人还需要凭配给证才能买到一些必需的食品，并储藏一些平时不常见的食品，留到过年再吃。到了现在，许多人都可以把新买的冰箱里塞得满满当当。这些食品中的蛋白质比重越来越大，而在以前，它们要么特别昂贵，要么特别稀缺。

随着收入的增长，进口食品和舶来风俗也开始对中国人的生活产生影响。大城市的居民们能到家乐福(Carrefour)和沃尔玛(Wal-Mart)去购买外国食品，而上海的第一家马莎百货(Marks & Spencer)也将开业。

冷静宜喜欢和朋友们去星巴克喝喝咖啡。她吃饭时爱喝点可口可乐，还会时不时地来些蛋糕和西点，而以前只有在过生日的时候才会吃这些东西。她说，许多中国的同龄人在上糕点制作课，这样就可以给自己家孩子做饼干、核仁巧克力饼和松饼了。冷静宜的家里没有烤箱，不过她自豪地说：“我未婚夫和我准备买一间配有烤箱的公寓。” 尽管基数较低，但奶制品（特别是牛奶和酸奶）的普级程度正在提高。

在基本需求得到满足的情况下，冷静宜和她的家人现在想在春节大餐中添加一些洋食品来调剂口味。今年她帮忙做了一份意大利面。她说：“这个东西其实准备起来非常简单，而且还能让我父母体验一下不一样的异国风味。”