They probably don't get why we don't do tofu

I think it is just a cultural thing. I remember reading many years ago that most Chinese did not consume any dairy products and that they had a much less incidence of breast cancer. Not sure if a link was ever proven about this. But the fact that they were not traditionaly raised on dairy means that they never aquired the taste. I remember the first time I tried yoghurt about 40 years ago and I dont think I really liked it at first. I now very much enjoy it's flavour. This is the same for many things. I know Chinese people who on first taste said that they did not find cheese to their liking but they ended up on my insistance trying it a few more times and grew accostomed to it to the point that they now very much enjoy it and it's wonderful variety. I'm now working on getting them to enjoy olives and then it's on to Vegimite.

Njord. I'm an Aussie but I love Tofu. Natures wonder food. But I don't go near the STINKY kind. It probably tastes Ok but the smell would make me retch as I was getting to my mouth.

The locals eat cheese in Yunnan, Lijiang and surrounding area, I also believe in other mountainous regions of China, they also eat it. It is a thick goat cheese and pretty tasty. Also the eat dried sheets of it.

If that's how you're going to frame the question, then how about this: "Why doesn't everyone in the world eat chicken feet?"

Obviously the reasons for not eating cheese are cultural, and let me correct you on the statement that everyone in the world eats cheese. This isn't true. Cheese is a novelty in many Asian countries including Japan, Korea etc. It was only introduced to Camobodia, Vietnam and Laos during colonialism and most people from sub-saharan Africa don't eat cheese either the way Westerners do.

In the case of China, I would say a big reason it hasn't been so pupular is because a large portion of the population is lactose intolerant. Perhaps another reason is China's terrain. The places that do have large pastures for raising cows, goats and sheep are areas that actually do have a cheese culture, such as inner mongolia, Tibet etc. I don't think people raise cows for dairy products the way small farmers in the West do. Here, small farmers raise chickens, pigs and if they're lucky, a couple of moutain sheep.

Indeed many Chinese do not eat cheese as it was not something that existed on an indigenuous level before large foreign communities arrived (translate that as before the British carved up China in the late 19th century with all of their concessions).

In the North, ex-Manchuria, the local do drink milk -- very often they will drink goat milk sold directly off the streets by the farmers -- not something that I would easily recommend.

Finally, I also have been told that many here are lactose intolerant -- whether or not this is true or whether or not this is just an excuse for passing over dairy products -- I don't know.

Still, there are large dairy selections in all of the supermarkets and milk is sold readily even in the small shops.

Major lines of cheese are also available and in some shops there is also cheese from Europe and Australia.

It's not lactose inolerance.  Lactose is one of the things consumed by bacteria during the cheese making process, so most cheese is lactose free as the lactose is found mostly in the whey (which is discarded).  Almost all hard cheeses and aged cheeses are lactose free.

I think that Cheese (or butter) never took hold in China for a few reasons.  First, most ariable land was normally used for grain and vegetable production, not feeding cattle.  Pigs are the traditional livestock because they can be raised in relatively small areas and will eat almost anything.  Places in China where there is more plains and cattle are raised do often feature some sort of cheese.

Second, before the advent of refridgeration, dairy products were difficult to move and ship.  Chinese also put a lot of emphisis on freshness so aging anything here is simply not done.  Cheese is often aged and this process simply wouldn't have caught on.  Most food preserving was traditionaly done by drying or salt curing (pickling for vegetables).

Third, beef isn't all that common in China.  Now it's more available, but dairy cows are a relatively new additon here.  Look at any culture that features grazing cattle and you'll usually find cheese (ie, India - butter and cheese).  Regions of China with a lot of sheep also feature some cheese type foods.

Lastly, in a lot of Asian cultures, milk is seen as baby food, so using it for adults would have seemed "weird".  After the Mongols were in charge here, yogurt caught on and also ice cream was invented in China (for kids).

So, I say practicality, availability, then cultural influence.

In Europe, during the harsh winters, fresh vegetables were hard to come by (a main source of calcium) so the only option was dairy and finding ways to preserve it though the winter.

There might be other reasons of course, I'm just tired and spouting out some ideas.

If they eat pizza they eat cheese. And I see a lot of pizza places especially in Beijing. They have papa johns and pizza hut here. I've seen those places packed on a regular basis.