Abstract: The subject of the research is a set of theoretical provisions and questions concerning lexical and semantic features of metaphors in Russian and Chinese food culture on the example of the word "bread".
The object of the study is metaphor in Russian and Chinese food culture on the example of the word "bread".
The aim of the work is to identify differences in metaphorical cognition between the Russian and Chinese languages by comparing vocabulary and phraseological units associated with the word "bread" and searching for equivalent words in Chinese.
Research methods – the method of analysis, comparison, logical reasoning.
Results: it is proved that the word "bread" is used figuratively more widely in Russian than in Chinese. In the Russian language there are phraseological units containing the word "bread", which are not in the Chinese language. In Chinese, there is a similar metaphorical expression with the meaning of "food", they only partially overlap in meaning. All these observations are closely related to the cultural, geographical and economic differences between the two languages.
Scope of application: the results obtained can be used for further research.
The main conclusions of the study are: 1) food is an important carrier of different cultures; 2) the use of comparative analysis of the metaphorical content of the same vocabulary and phraseological units reveals that different cultures and peoples, under the influence of geographical and economic factors, associate the same words with different connotations; 3) deepening the understanding of the metaphor "food" in different languages and the study of cultural peculiarities helps to overcome barriers in communication between different countries.
The author's special contribution to the research of the topic is a comprehensive approach to identifying differences in metaphorical cognition between the Russian and Chinese languages by comparing vocabulary and phraseological units associated with the word "bread" and searching for equivalent words in Chinese.

Abstract: In Russian, Chinese and English, there is a variety of vocabulary related to taste sensations, which often has a deep figurative meaning. The subject of this study is precisely such a taste vocabulary in the mentioned languages. The object of the research is cognitive metaphors of key taste words, which are used in creating emotional images-schemes. The aim of the study is to study and compare the similarities and differences in the use of cognitive metaphors for the most important taste words in emotional images—schemes typical of Russian, Chinese and English languages. The main task of the study is to analyze the ways of metaphorical representation of taste vocabulary in these emotional images-schemes and identify the unique features of each language in the context of this topic.  The research methods are comparative analysis and the corpus method, which allows you to analyze the use of language in large text collections. The novelty of this study lies in the development of a methodology for the analysis of emotional images-schemes associated with taste words. The study shows that in Russian, Chinese and English there is a high degree of similarity in cognitive schemas for the taste words "sour" and "sweet", which most often have a similar emotional image-scheme and are located at opposite ends of the image-scheme "LINE". However, there are differences in the words "bitter" and "acute": in English, both words usually have a negative meaning, in Russian "bitter" is mostly negatively colored, and "acute" can be both negative and positive. In Chinese, both the words "bitter" and "spicy" can have both positive and negative meanings. The metaphorical representation of taste words in an emotional image-scheme helps to make the metaphorical transfer of abstract taste words more concrete and visual, which makes it possible to better understand the differences and similarities in the translation of taste sensations in different languages.