Editor's note:

Thanks to the world wide web, the globe has become more interconnected. But globalization has not removed culture gaps when young Chinese and Americans communicate. To narrow the chasm, China Daily launched Swapping Notes, a Q&A project that solicited questions from China Daily's 3 million readers on Facebook and answers from 12 million Chinese followers on Sina Weibo, China's Twitter-like platform. Here is a selection of the best:

Is traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) used as an alternative treatment in China?

Traditional medicine is still the first choice for many Chinese people, especially for chronic diseases, answers Weibo user "Lichen." Chinese believe that TCM has fewer side effects and does less harm to the body. TCM is more focused on systematically adjusting and improving a person's health, including the immune system and energy levels, and it is part of our philosophy and lifestyle. When you take traditional medicine, you need to adjust your diet, living habits and mental condition for enhanced combined treatment effects.

And "Ljy" adds: Nowadays, Western medicine is popular in China, but many people still choose TCM, especially the elderly people. We believe it can cure some intractable diseases better than Western medicine.

I know there are many different dialects in China. How easy is it for people from different regions of the country to communicate?

Yeah, we have lots of dialects, and we do have difficulty in understanding all of them, writes Weibo user "Fiona". But then we have Mandarin, our official language. Nearly everyone here can speak it.

I hope this isn't an inappropriate question, but I've wondered whether all Chinese hate Tibetan people?

We love Tibetan people, the same as we love people from other provinces, answers "Xiaoyuebing". Tibet is a place lots of Chinese dream about visiting to purify their souls. A friend of mine goes to Tibet almost every year. She said people there are down to earth and relaxed. It's easy for her to chat with people sitting by the side of the road. She's made many friends there. Tibetan people want to get to know us as much as we want to get to know them.

"David" from Qinghai in Northeast China adds: We have a large number of Tibetans in Qinghai; we go to the same school, work in the same company, and help each other like brothers and sisters. I remember when an earthquake struck Yushu, people all around China donated money and materials. And with help from all over China, the new Yushu is more beautiful and modern.

Is it true that much of the Chinese food we eat here in the US was really invented here and bears little resemblance to actual Chinese cooking? What things do ordinary Chinese eat at home?

That's partly true, says "Yolanda" on Weibo. There are certainly differences between Chinese food in the US and in China. That's just because the food cooked in China may be not to your taste, so it has been changed for local tastes. Our staples include rice, steamed bread and noodles, explains "Zhaozhao". We have a saying, "Breakfast should be food for an emperor, lunch should be food for the common man, and dinner should be food for a beggar." It's said that only eating in this way can you keep healthy.