Dr. Hu Shiu-ying was educated in China before the Second World War. She later attended Harvard University where she was awarded a doctoral degree in 1949. She has established herself as one of the most distinguished research scientists in the field of plant taxonomy during the past fifty years in Harvard's Arnold Arboretum. She was a visiting professor in the Department of Biology at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, and is still a senior college tutor at Chung Chi College which is one of the University's foundation colleges.

The food plants of an area provide the material basis for the survival of its population, and furnish inspiring stimuli for cultural development.

There are two parts in this book.Part 1 introduces the cultural aspects of Chinese food plants and the spread of Chinese culinary culture to the world. It also describes how the botanical and cultural information was acquired; what plants have been selected by the Chinese people for food; how these foodstuffs are produced, preserved, and prepared; and what the western societies can learn from Chinese practices.Part 2 provides the botanical identification of the plant kingdom for the esculents used in China as food and/or as beverage. The plants are illustrated with line drawings or composite photographic plates.

This book is useful not only as a text for general reading, but also as a work reference. Naturally, it would be a useful addition to the general collection of any library.