For thousands of years we Chinese have always regarded chopsticks the simplest possible and the most efficient tool for transporting bite-sized morsels of food form a bowl to the mouth. As early as in the Zhou Dynasty， chopsticks were used for picking up meat and vegetables， while hands were used for rice. Chopsticks， which are roughly uniform in size throughout China， can be made of a variety of materials， including bamboo， wood， lacquer， jade， ivory， plastic， aluminum， silver and gold. Special long bamboo chopsticks are generally used in the kitchen. The way we Chinese handle our chopsticks is quite artistic and varied from person to person like one's signature. An average Chinese can very easily pick up a single tiny grain of rice， or a tiny piece of peas， or a slippery button mushroom or sea cucumber. When using chopsticks， one should place both sticks between the thumb and forefinger. The point is to keep one stick still and move the other so as to make them work like pincers.

　　幾千年來我們中國人一直視筷子為一種可以將飯從碗中逐口送入口中的最簡單同時也是最有效的工具。早在周朝時期，筷子便被人們用來夾取葷、蔬菜，而米飯在那時則用手來取食。全國各地的筷子大小基本一樣，而所用的材料的種類則各有不同，所選材料有竹子、木材、漆器、玉石、象牙、塑料、鋁、銀、金等。特長的竹筷通常用于廚房中。中國人使用筷子的方法很有藝術性，各人有各人的方法，就好像簽名一樣，不盡一致。中國人一般都能隨心所欲的用筷子夾起一粒米飯，一粒豌豆，一只滑溜溜的蘑菇或海參。 使用筷子時，要把一雙筷子夾在大拇指和食指之間。要點是讓其中的一根筷子保持不動，活動另一根筷子，以便能像鉗子一樣夾取食物。