China's modern history shows recent rapid changes unmatched in the West during the industrial revolution. Now think of China as "catching up" to the technological and social developments in the Western world, but for many centuries it was backwards.China in the 13th century was a leader in the world with its advanced technologies. Many are surprised to learn that devices such as the sea-compass, gunpowder, paper and printing were invented in China. Because China's bonds to their culture and traditions, however, was reluctant to take any of the modern advances that exploded in the west after this period. In some cases, such as agricultural development, which was not in the interests of the Chinese to start using harvesting equipment. The basic diet of rice from China and its massive labor were more efficient in the rice harvest machine may be and today it is still not economically viable for China's rice fields using the machine on human labor.
A country bigger in size than the United States of America, but only a fraction of the adjustment of land for food production, rice remains a major food produced in China. Due to this fact, the Chinese traditionally eat rice as a staple, combining with vegetables and spices, when available. The meat is still a shortage in some regions of China are not suitable for livestock and away from transportation centers. In these regions, the cuisine has hardly changed in the last 1,000 years.
