Above:The Baha'i House of Worship of Asia. Below:Life and times of your fellow World Citizen, Kolya

I just found out from my wife that it's very bad form to cut a pear in China!  it's considered a very bad omen.  This is because (if i understood correctly) the Chinese character (word) "Li"("Pear" ) when cut in half forms the character "to split/break up".  And so if you cut a pear it's thought that you're infering that the people you're serving to will split up! Apparently, before her parents divorced they had been served a cut up pear, at least once, while in Beijing, or something.  However, Baha'u'llah, (and the Communist Party both, for that matter, if i'm not mistaken,) say we shouldn't be superstitious, which i agree with completely, however, i'll still be sure not to cut a pear in front of anyone, at the risk of offending them!