Snacks, the easy route to happiness

Refined and delicious food can bring gourmands a profound sense of joy and contentment - but for others the humble snack is a popular habit that can bring them easy and instant gratification.

"Having meals gives me life, but eating snacks brings me joy," said Xu Shuyang, a graduate student at Tianjin University.

For Xu, snacks are an irresistible pleasure. "I'm afraid of putting on weight, but I can't give them up, so I prefer snacks with lower calories and I usually increase my exercise routine after eating them," Xu adds.

For some foodies, varying their snacks with different flavors is all the rage. "It's impossible for me to give up snacks, although I know many are junk food, because they taste so good," said Zhou Jinmei, 23, a graduate from Sichuan.

She said she would like to tuck into some snacks after a good meal, but sometimes skips meals when she has been filled up with snacks.

According to Zhou, meals are too formal, while the snack is a kind of instant food that she can reach out for whenever she is hungry, having as much as she likes and storing the rest.

Besides, she adds, compared with the standard menus in formal restaurants and canteens, new kinds of attractive snacks are being produced all the time.

At the grocery store or in supermarkets - where all kinds of snacks with various flavors are displayed - Zhou enjoys multiple choices according to her mood, including the option of trying out new products.

Zhou's friend, Long Lefan from Hunan, added that eating snacks is a kind of "bonus happiness" that became a habit in childhood.

"We had snacks on the way home after school as a bonus, which gave me the energy to do my homework after," Long adds.

For Long, satisfying her appetite with snacks is a simple way to get and to give others satisfaction, that is usually ignored by adults. She said she was once moved by her niece who told her that she was happy for a whole day because of the ice cream Long had bought her.

Instead of eating snacks, storing snacks brings happiness to Zhao Chen, from Jiangxi.

"Buying a lot of snacks makes me happy, which gives me satisfaction in abundance," Zhao said.

"I can control myself, so that I only eat a few snacks at a time, but I can't stop buying them."

When asked why she doesn't stock supplies only for regular meals, she demurs.

"Snacks are my instant satisfaction. For meals, whatever I cook, I have to wait."