Food and Drink — What to Eat

For those who travel to China, not only are the scenic spots and ancient civilization fascinating, but so too is Chinese food and drink. Like music, dance, calligraphy and painting, eating is also an art in China and Chinese cuisine is listed as one of the top in the field of world cuisines.

There are altogether eight dish systems in China. An excellent Chinese meal should simultaneously gratify sight, smell, touch, taste, and even sound.

1. Sichuan Dishes: the flavor is mainly sour, tingling, spicy and piquant
Typical courses:

    Sliced Cold Chicken
    Twice Cooked Pork
    Shredded Pork and Hot Sauce
    Spicy Hot Bean Curd
    Hot Pot
    Fish Flavored Eggplant
    Reflecting Beef
    Couple’s Beef Fillet
    xiao jianji
    hui guo rou
    yuxiang rousi
    mapo doufu
    huoguo
    yuxiang qiezi
    dengying niurou
    uqi feipian

2. Shandong Dishes: characterized by its emphasis on aroma, freshness, crispness and tenderness; the flavor is mainly light, fresh and tender
Typical courses

    Trumpet Shell Braised In Soy Sauce
    Sweet And Sour Carp
    Dezhou Stewed Chicken
    Caramelized Apples
    hongshao hailuo
    tangcu liyu
    dezhou paji
    basi pingguo

3. Guangdong Dishes: best known for cooking snakes, racoon, dogs, and monkeys; the flavor is mainly light, crisp, tasty and fresh
Typical courses:

    Shark’s Fin Soup
    Steamed Sea Bass
    Roasted Piglet
    Iron Plate Beef
    Sweet and Sour Pork
    yuchi tang
    qingzhen luyu
    kao ruzhu
    tieban niurou
    gulao rou

4.Anhui Dishes: its features stress oil, sauce, color, and heat
Typical courses

    Huangshan Braised Pigeon
    Hot Diced Pork
    Wuwei Smoked Duck
    huangshan zhengge
    shenjin rouding
    Wuwei xunya

5.Hunan Dishes: stresses tasty ingredients and its flavors highlight hot and sour
Typical courses:

    Dong’an Chick
    Peppery and Hot Chick
    Lotus Seedpods With Crystal Sugar dong’an ziji
    mala ziji
    bingtang xianglian

6. Jiangsu Dishes: the flavors are moderate, palatably sweet and salty; full of nutrition
Typical courses:

    Stewed Crab with Clear Soup
    Long-boiled and Dry-shredded Meat
    Crystal Meat
    Jinling Salted Dried Duck qingzheng xie
    qingdun xiefen shizitou
    shuijing yaoti
    jinling yanshui ya

7. Zhejiang Dishes: the flavor is light and fresh, tender and elaborate
Typical courses:

    Sour West Lake Fish
    Longjing Shelled Shrimp
    Beggar’s Chicken xihu cuyu
    longjing xiaren
    jiaohua ji

8. Fujian Dishes: characterized by pleasant color, light and fresh flavor; the flavor is light, sweet and sour
Typical courses:

    Buddha Jumping Over the Wall
    Snow Chicken
    Prawn with Dragon’s Body and Phoenix’s tail fo tiaoqiang
    xuehua ji
    fengwei xia

9.Shanghai dishes and Beijing dishes are also highly recommended. They are so delicious that even their aroma could make you lick your lips. If you are only visiting Beijing or Shanghai, do not forget to taste some local dishes.

Beijing dishes have combined many of the advantages of other dish systems to become epicures’ focus because of its own elegance, fresh flavor, and magnificence.
Typical Beijing dishes:

    Beijing Roast Duck Beijing
    Instant-Boiled Mutton Mongolian Hot Pot
    Braised Shark’s Fin
    Sauteed Chicken With Green Peppers
    Sweet Cake With Dates kaoya
    shuan yangrou
    huangmen yuchi
    jiangbao jiding
    saqima

Different from the magnificence shown in the Beijing dishes, Shanghai dishes stress natural beauty and pursue simplicity and elegance. Shanghai dishes are the youngest in Chinese dish systems with a mere 400-year history. In addition to its dishes, Shanghai snacks, such as Zongzi, Tangyuan (a kind of dumpling made with sticky rice), and cat ears (a kind of cookie) are also well known.
Typical Shanghai dishes:

    Sour and Hot Soup with Eel and Chicken
    Black Sea Cucumber with Shrimp Roe
    Duck with Prawn Rounds
    Shrimps of Two Colors
    Boiled Crucian Carp with Clam
    Steamed Beef in Rice Flour longfeng suanla tang
    xiazi dawushen
    ruyi ya juan xian
    shuangse xiaren
    geli cuan jiyu
    yuanlong fenzheng niurou

Also, you should taste Court Food, which has its origins in the Imperial Palace and is based on foods served to the Emperor and his Court, and vegetarian food. Both have their own unique flavors and good nutritional values.

Various nonalcoholic and alcoholic drinks are available in China. Tea, as the most popular drink in China, is also welcomed by foreigners.

*Tea   *Beer   *Coffee   *Whiskey    *Mineral  Water   *Vodka   *Milk  *Grape Wine 

*Fruit Juice  *Rice Wine  *Coca-cola  *Champagne  *Soda   *Yellow Wine * Yoghurt

*Cocktail    

Food and Drink — Where to Eat

Nobody could tell exactly how many restaurants a specific city has, to say nothing of the roadside eateries distributed in streets and back lanes. No matter where you would like to eat, in the slap-up restaurants or in the roadside eateries, make sure that the restaurant is clean and the food has been freshly prepared and is hot. It is a good idea to take your own chopsticks if you decide to dine in roadside eateries.