This phrase is often used by Chinese housewives, because it is them who are responsible to the “Chai mi you yan” of a family.

Here, “chai” means “firewood”; “mi” refers to “rice”; “you” means “oil” and “yan” is “salt”. These are the basic materials for cooking. In the agricultural city, the basic concern of a family is the food and drink. So these four became the representative of the daily life issues.

And people always say that if you have not been hosting the family that you don’t know the price of the “Chai mi you yan”. It means that only you experience the daily trivial of a family life, you know that it is hard to support a family.

Latterly, people also add three other things to the phrase; they are “jiang cu cha”—“sauce, vinegar and tea”, which depicts the tastes of the life more completely. Based on these ingredients, Chinese people summarize the main tastes or conditions of life are “sour, sweet, bitter, spicy and salty”, which are the corresponding explanation of your life state.