Chinese Dishes Problem

My first step would be to see what I can do with the given information, i.e.

‘every 2 shared a dish of rice’ = 1 dish/2 guests

‘every 3 shared a dish of broth’ = 1 dish/3 guests

‘every 4 shared a dish of meat’ = 1 dish/4 guests

Furthermore,

dishes/guests = ½ + ⅓ + ¼ = (6+4+3)/12 = 13/12

Lastly, there are 65 dishes in total:

65 dishes * 12 guests/13 dishes = 60 guests

I’m not sure how cultural context wil affect/modify the solution or the problem itself except that we word the problem differently. For exmaple, use ‘bowl/portion/plate’ instead of ‘dish’.  However, the cultural context is one of the improtant components of this problem in terms of interpretration. For instance, sharing and/or serving food may not be a ‘norm’ in some cultures, and it might have different and unique implications. The students belonging to the culture where sharing and serving food in dishes in not normal may find interpreting the problem a bit odd. Nevertheless, this problem could be their exposure to the culture(s) where sharing/seving food in dishes is normal.

Moreover, there can be numerous interpretations of the term ‘dish’. It can be thought of as plate/bowl or a big pot in which food is cooked.

In additon, if the problem is presented as 'Chinese Puzzle' or 'Chinese Dishes Problem', the mind automatically shifts to thinking about culture and its implications on the solution. Some students might also think that the problem needs to be solved in the context of culture.