Chinese Cuisine by Region: The Eight Great Cuisines, Regional Dishes and How to Order

There is no single "Chinese food." China cooks in many regional styles, and Chinese people usually sum them up as the Eight Great Cuisines (八大菜系, bā dà càixì): Sichuan, Cantonese, Shandong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Hunan and Anhui. The two most visitors meet first sit at opposite ends. Sichuan food, from Chengdu and Chongqing, is hot and numbing. Cantonese food, from Guangzhou and Hong Kong, is light and fresh, and much of it is steamed. One more rule explains a lot of what you will see on the table: the north eats wheat (noodles, dumplings, buns) and the south eats rice. This guide covers what each of the eight cuisines tastes like and which dishes to order, the regional food outside the eight (Peking duck, Xi'an noodles, Yunnan rice noodles, Shanghai soup dumplings), how a Chinese meal works, and the words on a menu that tell you what a dish is.

How Chinese Cuisine Is Organized

The Eight Great Cuisines is the grouping you will hear from Chinese friends and see on restaurant signs that promise "authentic Sichuan food" (正宗川菜, zhèngzōng chuāncài). It is a common way of talking about food, not an official list. No law or register defines the eight, and writers split them differently: Jiangsu cuisine, for example, is often called Huaiyang cuisine (淮扬菜, huáiyáng cài) after its best-known branch. Its origin is usually traced back a few centuries, but the exact story varies from book to book.

What does have official status is the cooking itself. In 2021, "Chinese culinary skills and food customs" (中餐烹饪技艺与食俗), nominated by the China Cuisine Association, was added to China's national list of intangible cultural heritage. Several regional cuisines and single dishes have their own national listings, which you will find in the sections below. China also has seven UNESCO Creative Cities of Gastronomy: Chengdu (2010), Shunde (2014), Macau (2017), Yangzhou (2019), Huai'an (2021), Chaozhou (2023) and Quanzhou (2025). You can read UNESCO's own page on Chengdu as a City of Gastronomy.

Geography explains most of it

Chinese people sum up the main split with a short phrase, 南米北面 (nán mǐ běi miàn): rice in the south, noodles in the north. North China grows wheat, so the staple there is noodles, dumplings, steamed buns and flatbreads. South China grows rice, so a meal there is built around a bowl of rice. The dividing line runs roughly between the Yellow River and the Yangtze; cities like Shanghai and Nanjing eat both.

A second rule of thumb covers flavour. It is not exact, but it will rarely mislead you:

• North (Beijing, Shandong, Tianjin, the Northeast): salty and hearty. Lots of garlic, scallion, vinegar and soy sauce, with roasts, stews and dumplings. Winters are long, so pickled cabbage and preserved foods matter.
• South (Guangdong, Fujian, Hong Kong): light and fresh. Steaming, quick stir-frying, slow-cooked soups and a lot of seafood. Cooks try to keep the taste of the ingredient, not cover it.
• West and southwest (Sichuan, Chongqing, Hunan, Guizhou, Yunnan): spicy. Chili is everywhere, and Sichuan adds the numbing Sichuan peppercorn. Sour pickles and fermented pastes are common.
• East (Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang): sweet and soy-rich. Sugar goes into savory braises, freshwater fish and shrimp are everyday food, and presentation is careful.

The two extremes you will meet first

If you only remember two cuisines, make them Sichuan and Cantonese. Sichuan restaurants are in every Chinese city, and their food is bold and spicy: chili oil, garlic, peppercorns that make your lips tingle. Cantonese food is light and mild: steamed fish with ginger and scallion, clear soups, roast meats, dim sum with tea. Most Chinese food served abroad grew out of Cantonese cooking, which is why it may feel familiar. Many visitors find that a trip goes best when they alternate between the two: a Sichuan dinner one night, a Cantonese breakfast or lunch the next.

Regional food also travels. In any large city you can find Sichuan, Hunan, Cantonese, Northeastern and Xinjiang restaurants, plus Lanzhou beef noodle and Shaxian snack shops on almost every street. You do not need to visit a region to taste its food, although the version in its home region is usually better and cheaper.

Sichuan Cuisine (川菜, Chuān Cài)

Sichuan cooking comes from Sichuan province, whose capital is Chengdu, and the neighbouring city of Chongqing. It is the cuisine most foreigners picture when they think of spicy Chinese food. Its signature taste is málà (麻辣): má is the numbing, buzzing feeling from Sichuan peppercorns (花椒, huājiāo), and là is chili heat. Together they make your mouth tingle more than burn.

Not every Sichuan dish is hot. The cuisine is known for its range of flavours, and a good menu mixes sweet-and-sour, garlicky, smoky and plain dishes with the spicy ones. Sichuan cooking techniques were added to the national intangible heritage list in 2021, and Chengdu became China's first UNESCO City of Gastronomy in 2010. The base of many dishes is Pixian chili bean paste (郫县豆瓣, Píxiàn dòubàn), whose traditional making has been on the national heritage list since 2008.

What to order:

• Mapo tofu (麻婆豆腐, mápó dòufu): soft tofu in a red, numbing sauce with a little minced beef or pork. The benchmark dish.
• Kung pao chicken (宫保鸡丁, gōngbǎo jīdīng): diced chicken with peanuts and dried chilies, a little sweet and sour. Milder than it looks.
• Twice-cooked pork (回锅肉, huíguō ròu): boiled pork belly sliced thin and stir-fried with leeks and bean paste.
• Fish-fragrant shredded pork (鱼香肉丝, yúxiāng ròusī): no fish at all; "fish-fragrant" is a sweet, sour, garlicky sauce.
• Dan dan noodles (担担面, dàndàn miàn): small bowl of noodles with chili oil, minced pork and preserved vegetable.
• Hot pot (火锅, huǒguō): you cook raw meat and vegetables in a pot of boiling, chili-heavy broth at your table. Chongqing and Chengdu both claim it.

Where to eat it: Chengdu and Chongqing. Our Chengdu food guide covers hot pot, snacks and teahouses, and the Chongqing guide covers the city where hot pot is the everyday meal.

Cantonese Cuisine (粤菜, Yuè Cài)

Cantonese cooking comes from Guangdong province, Hong Kong and Macau, and it is the opposite of Sichuan. The aim is to keep the natural taste of fresh ingredients: steam the fish, stir-fry the greens fast, season lightly. Guangzhou's city government describes Cantonese food as one of China's "eight culinary traditions," known for its variety of ingredients and careful cooking, and names soup, tea, dim sum and late-night snacks as core parts of local eating. Its English page on food in Guangzhou is a good short introduction.

Guangdong has more than one style. Chaozhou (Teochew) cuisine, from the east of the province, is known for braised goose, raw-marinated seafood and fish balls; Chaozhou cooking techniques entered the national heritage list in 2021, together with the making of Shahe rice noodles (沙河粉, shāhé fěn) from Guangzhou. Three of China's seven UNESCO gastronomy cities are in this corner of the country: Shunde, Chaozhou and Macau.

What to order:

• Dim sum (点心, diǎnxin): small steamed and fried dishes eaten with tea, mostly in the morning and at lunch. Start with shrimp dumplings (虾饺, xiājiǎo), pork and shrimp siu mai (烧卖, shāomài), barbecued pork buns (叉烧包, chāshāo bāo) and rice-noodle rolls (肠粉, chángfěn). Going for dim sum is called yum cha (饮茶, "drinking tea").
• Roast meats (烧味, shāowèi): char siu barbecued pork (叉烧, chāshāo), roast goose (烧鹅, shāo é) and crispy pork belly over rice.
• Steamed fish (清蒸鱼, qīngzhēng yú): a whole fish with ginger, scallion and light soy. The test of a Cantonese kitchen.
• Wonton noodles (云吞面, yúntūn miàn): thin egg noodles and shrimp wontons in clear broth.
• Clay pot rice (煲仔饭, bāozǎi fàn): rice cooked in a clay pot with sausage or chicken on top, crisp at the bottom.
• Slow-cooked soup (老火汤, lǎohuǒ tāng): soup simmered for hours; many restaurants serve a bowl at the start of the meal.

Where to eat it: Guangzhou, Shunde (a short trip from Guangzhou), Hong Kong and Macau. See the Guangzhou and Shenzhen guide and the Hong Kong food guide.

Shandong Cuisine (鲁菜, Lǔ Cài)

Shandong cooking comes from the province on the northeast coast, around Jinan, Qingdao, Yantai and Qufu, the home town of Confucius. It is often described as the oldest of the eight, and it shaped the cooking of Beijing and much of North China, so you will taste its influence even where no menu says "Shandong." The flavour is salty and savory, with plenty of scallion, garlic and vinegar. Cooks use fast, very hot stir-frying and rich stocks, and the coast adds sea cucumber, prawns and fish.

Two Shandong food traditions are on the national heritage list: the cooking of the Confucius family mansion (孔府菜, Kǒngfǔ cài) in Qufu, listed in 2011, and the making of Dezhou braised chicken (德州扒鸡, Dézhōu pájī), listed in 2014.

What to order:

• Sweet and sour carp (糖醋鲤鱼, tángcù lǐyú): a whole Yellow River carp, fried so the tail curls up, in a glossy sweet-sour sauce.
• Braised sea cucumber with scallion (葱烧海参, cōngshāo hǎishēn): a banquet dish; soft sea cucumber in a dark scallion sauce.
• Dezhou braised chicken (德州扒鸡, Dézhōu pájī): a whole chicken braised until the meat falls off the bone; sold whole at stations and shops in Shandong.
• Nine-turn pork intestine (九转大肠, jiǔzhuǎn dàcháng): braised intestine in a sweet, sour and spicy sauce, a Jinan classic for the adventurous.
• Scallion pancake rolls (煎饼卷大葱, jiānbing juǎn dàcōng): thin grain pancakes wrapped around raw scallion and bean paste, a homely Shandong snack.

Where to eat it: Jinan and Qufu for the classic dishes, Qingdao and Yantai for seafood. In Beijing, many of the old restaurants serving braised and quick-fried dishes cook in the Shandong style.

Jiangsu Cuisine (苏菜, Sū Cài)

Jiangsu cooking, centred on Nanjing, Suzhou, Wuxi, Yangzhou and Huai'an, is the food of the old rich towns along the Yangtze and the Grand Canal. It is subtle: careful knife work, long slow braises, clear soups, and a balance that leans a little sweet. Freshwater fish, river shrimp and crab are central. Many Chinese people know it as Huaiyang cuisine, after the two cities of Huai'an and Yangzhou.

Both of those cities are UNESCO Cities of Gastronomy: Yangzhou since 2019 and Huai'an since 2021. Yangzhou is also known for its morning tea, and the tea snacks of its Fuchun teahouse (富春茶点, Fùchūn chádiǎn) have been on the national heritage list since 2008. Nanjing people love duck: Nanjing's government says pressed duck and salted duck earned the city the nickname "duck capital". In Wuxi, the city's English portal calls Wuxi spare ribs the city's most typical traditional dish.

What to order:

• Lion's head meatballs (狮子头, shīzi tóu): large, very soft pork meatballs, braised or simmered in broth.
• Yangzhou fried rice (扬州炒饭, Yángzhōu chǎofàn): the original, with egg, shrimp, ham and peas; lighter than the takeaway version.
• Squirrel-shaped mandarin fish (松鼠鳜鱼, sōngshǔ guìyú): a scored, fried fish in sweet-sour sauce, a Suzhou showpiece.
• Nanjing salted duck (盐水鸭, yánshuǐ yā): cold, pale and tender duck, eaten as a starter.
• Wuxi spare ribs (无锡酱排骨, Wúxī jiàng páigǔ): sweet, dark, soy-braised ribs.
• Braised shredded tofu (大煮干丝, dàzhǔ gānsī): tofu cut as thin as noodles in a rich chicken broth, a Yangzhou test of knife skill.
• Crab-roe soup dumplings (蟹黄汤包, xièhuáng tāngbāo): large dumplings filled with hot soup; you drink the soup through a straw or bite a small hole first.

Where to eat it: Yangzhou for morning tea, Nanjing for duck and snacks, Suzhou for fish and noodles. See the Yangzhou guide, the Nanjing guide and the Suzhou guide.

Zhejiang Cuisine (浙菜, Zhè Cài)

Zhejiang cooking comes from Hangzhou, Ningbo, Shaoxing and Wenzhou, just south of Shanghai. It is fresh, mild and not greasy. Cooks use freshwater fish from the lakes, bamboo shoots, and Shaoxing rice wine (绍兴黄酒, Shàoxīng huángjiǔ) in sauces and marinades. Hangzhou's own style is gentle and slightly sweet. Ningbo, on the coast, cooks saltier seafood, and Wenzhou is known for seafood as well.

What to order:

• West Lake fish in vinegar sauce (西湖醋鱼, Xīhú cùyú): poached grass carp in a sweet-sour sauce; the most famous Hangzhou dish, though not everyone likes its soft texture.
• Dongpo pork (东坡肉, Dōngpō ròu): a square of pork belly braised in rice wine and soy until it is glossy and soft, named after the poet Su Dongpo.
• Longjing shrimp (龙井虾仁, Lóngjǐng xiārén): small river shrimp stir-fried with leaves of Longjing (Dragon Well) green tea.
• Beggar's chicken (叫花鸡, jiàohuā jī): chicken wrapped in lotus leaves and baked in a clay crust that is cracked open at the table.
• Drunken chicken (醉鸡, zuì jī): cold chicken marinated in Shaoxing wine, a common starter.
• Ningbo sweet dumplings (宁波汤圆, Níngbō tāngyuán): glutinous rice balls filled with black sesame, served in hot water.

Where to eat it: Hangzhou, around West Lake and in the old streets. See the Hangzhou guide, and the guide to Chinese tea if you want to visit the Longjing tea villages.

Fujian Cuisine (闽菜, Mǐn Cài)

Fujian cooking comes from the southeast coast, opposite Taiwan, around Fuzhou, Xiamen and Quanzhou. It is built on seafood and soups. Flavours are fresh, savory and sometimes a little sweet or sour, and cooks use fermented red rice wine paste (红糟, hóngzāo) and fish sauce. Many dishes come in a bowl of broth.

The best-known dish is Buddha Jumps Over the Wall (佛跳墙, fó tiào qiáng), a slow-cooked soup of many expensive ingredients such as abalone, sea cucumber and dried scallops. The Fujian provincial government's English portal calls it the signature dish of Fujian cuisine and says the Fuzhou restaurant Juchunyuan (聚春园), founded in 1865, is the oldest restaurant still running in Fujian; Juchunyuan's way of making the dish has been on the national heritage list since 2008. You can read the portal's page on Fo Tiao Qiang. The name comes from a story that the smell was so good a monk jumped over the temple wall to taste it.

Xiamen's city government lists ginger duck, oyster omelette (海蛎煎, hǎilì jiān), popiah spring rolls (薄饼, báobǐng), peanut soup, sea-worm jelly (土笋冻, tǔsǔn dòng) and satay noodles (沙茶面, shāchá miàn) among its local foods. Quanzhou, further down the coast, became China's newest UNESCO City of Gastronomy in 2025. Fujian also gave China one of its most common cheap eateries: Shaxian snacks (沙县小吃, Shāxiàn xiǎochī), from Sanming, whose making entered the national heritage list in 2021. Shaxian shops selling wontons, peanut-sauce noodles and steamed dumplings are in nearly every Chinese city.

What to order:

• Buddha Jumps Over the Wall (佛跳墙, fó tiào qiáng): often ordered as a single-serving pot.
• Oyster omelette (海蛎煎, hǎilì jiān): small oysters fried with egg and sweet potato starch.
• Fish ball soup (鱼丸汤, yúwán tāng): springy fish balls, in Fuzhou often filled with pork.
• Satay noodles (沙茶面, shāchá miàn): Xiamen noodles in a peanut and shrimp-paste broth; you choose the toppings.
• Lychee pork (荔枝肉, lìzhī ròu): fried pork in a sweet-sour red sauce, cut so it looks like lychees.

Where to eat it: Fuzhou for the classic dishes, Xiamen and Quanzhou for seafood and snacks. See the Fuzhou guide and the Xiamen and Fujian coast guide.

Hunan Cuisine (湘菜, Xiāng Cài)

Hunan food is hot in a different way from Sichuan. There is little numbing peppercorn; the heat comes straight from fresh, pickled and dried chilies, often with sour and smoky flavours. Many travelers find it hotter than Sichuan food. The Hunan provincial government's English portal describes Hunan cuisine as one of China's eight major cuisines, sour and spicy, fresh and fragrant, and deep in colour, and lists stir-fried pork with chili peppers, steamed fish head with chopped chili, Changsha stinky tofu, tang you baba, braised pork and the cured meats of western Hunan as dishes visitors should try. The list is on its visitor Q&A page.

In Changsha, the provincial capital, the old food hall Huogongdian (火宫殿) began as a temple to the fire god, first built in 1747. Its stinky tofu was added to the national heritage list in 2021.

What to order:

• Stir-fried pork with chili (辣椒炒肉, làjiāo chǎo ròu): the everyday Hunan dish; sliced pork belly with green chilies.
• Steamed fish head with chopped chili (剁椒鱼头, duòjiāo yútóu): a big fish head under a layer of red pickled chili; noodles are often added to the sauce at the end.
• Mao-style red-braised pork (毛氏红烧肉, Máo shì hóngshāo ròu): pork belly braised with caramelized sugar and little soy sauce, sweet and rich.
• Changsha stinky tofu (臭豆腐, chòu dòufu): black, fried fermented tofu with chili sauce. It smells strong and tastes milder.
• Tang you baba (糖油粑粑, táng yóu bābā): fried glutinous rice cakes in sugar syrup, a sweet snack.
• Smoked pork (腊肉, làròu): cured, smoked pork from western Hunan, stir-fried with garlic shoots or dried vegetables.

Where to eat it: Changsha. See the Changsha guide.

Anhui Cuisine (徽菜, Huī Cài)

Anhui cuisine is the least known of the eight outside China. It comes from the mountainous Huizhou area in the south of the province, around Huangshan (Yellow Mountain) and the old villages of Hongcun and Xidi. The food uses what the mountains give: bamboo shoots, wild herbs, mushrooms, cured ham and freshwater fish. Cooks braise and stew for a long time, and dishes tend to be oily, salty and dark. Some dishes are fermented on purpose and smell strong, but the taste is usually milder than the smell. Spring bamboo shoots from the Huangshan hills are the seasonal highlight, and cured ham goes into many braised dishes to add salt and depth. As of the 2021 listing, Anhui (Hui) cooking techniques are on the national intangible heritage list.

What to order:

• Stinky mandarin fish (臭鳜鱼, chòu guìyú): fish lightly fermented for several days, then braised. It smells strong; the meat is firm, savory and mild.
• Hairy tofu (毛豆腐, máo dòufu): tofu left to grow a soft white mould, then pan-fried and served with chili sauce.
• Bamboo shoots braised with ham (火腿炖笋, huǒtuǐ dùn sǔn): a spring dish, salty and fresh.
• Huangshan braised pigeon (黄山炖鸽, Huángshān dùn gē): a clear, slow-cooked soup.

Where to eat it: Huangshan city (Tunxi) and the villages near the mountain. See the Huangshan guide.

Beyond the Eight: Regional Styles Worth Knowing

The eight cuisines leave out a lot of China, including the food of Beijing, Shanghai and Xi'an, three cities almost every first-time visitor sees. These are the regional styles that matter most on a typical trip.

Beijing and the North

Northern food is wheat-based and filling: noodles, dumplings (饺子, jiǎozi), steamed buns (包子, bāozi) and flatbreads, with lamb, pork and a lot of garlic and vinegar. The headline dish is Peking duck (北京烤鸭, Běijīng kǎoyā): the duck is roasted until the skin is crisp, carved at the table, and wrapped in thin pancakes with scallion, cucumber and sweet bean sauce. Beijing has two roasting styles, and both have been on the national heritage list since 2008: Quanjude (全聚德) hangs the duck in an oven over an open fire of smokeless hardwood, and Bianyifang (便宜坊) uses a closed oven with no open flame, so the duck cooks in the heat from the walls.

The Beijing government's English portal lists Peking duck, candied hawthorn on a stick (冰糖葫芦, bīngtáng húlu), stewed liver (炒肝, chǎogān), fermented mung bean drink with fried rings (豆汁儿和焦圈, dòuzhīr hé jiāoquān), mutton hot pot and noodles with fried bean sauce (炸酱面, zhájiàng miàn) among the city's typical flavours. Mutton hot pot (涮羊肉, shuàn yángròu), with thin lamb slices dipped in plain broth and eaten with sesame sauce, is the Beijing winter meal; Donglaishun's version is on the national heritage list. Nearby Tianjin is known for its Goubuli steamed buns (狗不理包子, Gǒubùlǐ bāozi) and Guifaxiang fried dough twists (桂发祥麻花, Guìfāxiáng máhuā), both on the national list.

For breakfast, look for jianbing (煎饼, jiānbing), a thin crepe with egg, scallion, sauce and a crisp cracker folded inside. See the Beijing food guide and the Tianjin guide.

The Northwest and Xi'an

The northwest, along the old Silk Road, eats wheat and lamb, seasoned with cumin and chili. Much of the cooking comes from the Hui (回族, Huízú), a Chinese-speaking Muslim people, so many restaurants are halal and serve no pork. Noodles are the centre of the meal: pulled, cut, ripped, or rolled thin.

In Xi'an, try:

• Roujiamo (肉夹馍, ròu jiā mó): chopped stewed pork or beef stuffed into a flat bun, often called a "Chinese hamburger." Xi'an's 2016 local standards set its official English name as "Rougamo".
• Biangbiang noodles (biangbiang 面): belt-wide hand-pulled noodles with hot oil poured over chili and garlic.
• Cold rice-skin noodles (凉皮, liángpí): chewy, sour and spicy, eaten cold in summer.
• Lamb or beef paomo (羊肉泡馍, yángròu pàomó): you break a hard flatbread into small pieces by hand, and the kitchen cooks them in rich meat soup. The Tongshengxiang (同盛祥) version has been on the national heritage list since 2008.

Further west, Lanzhou beef noodles (兰州牛肉面, Lánzhōu niúròu miàn) entered the national heritage list in 2021. The standard description of a good bowl is clear broth, white radish, red chili oil, green coriander and garlic shoots, and yellowish noodles, and you choose the noodle shape when you order, from very thin (毛细, máoxì) to wide and flat (大宽, dàkuān). See the Xi'an food guide, the Lanzhou guide, and our guide to halal food in China.

Yunnan and the Southwest

Yunnan, in the far southwest, is home to many ethnic minority groups and a huge range of plants, and its food shows both. Expect wild mushrooms, edible flowers, fresh herbs, rice noodles and sour, spicy flavours close to those of Laos and Myanmar next door. The signature dish is crossing-the-bridge rice noodles (过桥米线, guòqiáo mǐxiàn): a bowl of very hot chicken broth arrives with plates of thin meat, quail egg, vegetables and rice noodles, and you add them yourself. In summer, wild mushroom hot pot (野生菌火锅, yěshēng jùn huǒguō) is the local treat; eat it at a proper restaurant and let it cook as long as the staff tell you, because some wild mushrooms are unsafe when undercooked.

Guizhou, next door, is known for sour fish soup (酸汤鱼, suāntāng yú). In Guangxi, Guilin rice noodles (桂林米粉, Guìlín mǐfěn) and Liuzhou snail rice noodles (螺蛳粉, luósī fěn), famous for their strong smell, were both added to the national heritage list in 2021. See the Yunnan guide and the Guilin and Yangshuo guide.

Shanghai and Jiangnan

Shanghai's home cooking, called benbang cuisine (本帮菜, běnbāng cài), is sweet, oily and dark with soy. Its traditional cooking was added to the national heritage list in 2014, and so was the making of Nanxiang soup dumplings (南翔小笼, Nánxiáng xiǎolóng) from the town of the same name in Shanghai's suburbs. Jiangnan (江南, "south of the river") is the wider region of Shanghai, southern Jiangsu and northern Zhejiang, so its food overlaps with the Jiangsu and Zhejiang sections above.

• Xiaolongbao (小笼包, xiǎolóngbāo): small steamed dumplings filled with pork and hot soup. Bite a small hole, sip the soup from the spoon, then eat the rest.
• Shengjianbao (生煎包, shēngjiān bāo): soup-filled buns pan-fried with crisp bottoms and sesame on top.
• Red-braised pork (红烧肉, hóngshāo ròu): pork belly in a sweet, dark soy sauce, the Shanghai home-cooking classic.
• Scallion oil noodles (葱油拌面, cōngyóu bàn miàn): plain noodles tossed with fried scallion oil and soy; cheap and very good.
• Hairy crab (大闸蟹, dàzháxiè): freshwater crab, eaten in autumn when it is full of roe.

See the Shanghai food guide and the Jiangnan water towns route.

The Northeast (Dongbei)

The Northeast (东北, Dōngběi), with Harbin, Shenyang and Dalian, has long, very cold winters, and its food is built for them: big portions, stews, dumplings, pickled cabbage (酸菜, suāncài) and pork. Dongbei restaurants are popular all over China because the dishes are filling and cheap. Try guobaorou (锅包肉, guōbāoròu), crisp fried pork in sweet-sour sauce; stewed chicken with mushrooms (小鸡炖蘑菇, xiǎojī dùn mógu); and pork with pickled cabbage and glass noodles.

In Shenyang, Laobian dumplings (老边饺子, Lǎobiān jiǎozi), Majia shaomai and traditional Liaoning cooking are on the provincial heritage list. Dalian, on the coast, eats seafood: the city government's food pages list fried menzi (焖子, mènzi, sweet-potato starch jelly, often fried with sea cucumber or shrimp), stir-fried sea worm (海肠, hǎicháng) with chives, and mackerel dumplings (鲅鱼饺子, bàyú jiǎozi). See the Harbin guide, the Shenyang guide and the Dalian guide.

Xinjiang

Xinjiang, in the far west, cooks Central Asian food: lamb, flatbread, rice pilaf and hand-pulled noodles. You will find Xinjiang restaurants in every big Chinese city, usually halal. Order lamb skewers (羊肉串, yángròu chuàn) grilled with cumin and chili; big plate chicken (大盘鸡, dàpán jī), a spicy chicken and potato stew served over wide noodles; hand-pulled noodles with stir-fried topping (拌面, bànmiàn, known in Uyghur as laghman); rice pilaf with lamb and carrot (抓饭, zhuāfàn); and naan (馕, náng), a round baked flatbread.

Hong Kong and Macau

Hong Kong eats Cantonese food, plus its own café culture: cha chaan teng (茶餐厅, chá cāntīng) diners serve milk tea, pineapple buns and macaroni soup. Macau mixes Cantonese and Portuguese cooking. Its Macanese cuisine (土生葡人美食), from families of mixed Portuguese and Chinese descent, is on China's national heritage list, and Macau has been a UNESCO City of Gastronomy since 2017. See the Hong Kong food guide.

How Chinese People Eat: Food Culture in Brief

The dishes change from region to region, but the way a meal works is much the same across China. Here are the habits that surprise first-time visitors most. Our guide to Chinese etiquette and taboos covers table manners, toasts and paying in more depth.

Three meals, and breakfast is its own world

Chinese people eat three meals a day, and they eat early: breakfast is often bought from a street stall on the way to work, lunch comes around noon, and dinner starts early in the evening. Breakfast is usually savory and hot. In the north, people eat soy milk (豆浆, dòujiāng) with fried dough sticks (油条, yóutiáo), steamed buns, jianbing, or a bowl of noodles. In the south, it is rice porridge (粥, zhōu), rice noodles or dim sum. Wuhan has hot dry noodles (热干面, rè gān miàn), Guilin has rice noodles. Breakfast stalls often close by mid-morning, so go early. Many hotels serve a Chinese buffet breakfast as well as a Western one.

Dishes are shared from the middle

At a Chinese meal, you do not order a plate each. Everyone orders dishes together, they go in the middle of the table, and each person takes a little at a time and eats with rice. In restaurants with round tables, the dishes sit on a lazy susan (转盘, zhuànpán), a turning glass top; turn it slowly, and wait until nobody is in the middle of taking food. A good rule is one dish per person plus one more, with a mix of meat, vegetables, a soup and something mild. Under China's Anti-Food Waste Law, restaurants must remind diners not to over-order and must offer different portion sizes, such as small portions (小份, xiǎo fèn). If you are only two people, ask for 小份 or half portions (半份, bàn fèn) where the menu offers them.

Serving chopsticks

Using your own chopsticks to pick food for other people is seen as impolite, and many restaurants put serving chopsticks (公筷, gōngkuài) or serving spoons (公勺, gōngsháo) on each dish. Some restaurants give each diner two pairs, one black for your own mouth and one white for serving. Since June 2025, national rules for the catering industry say restaurants should provide serving spoons and chopsticks when diners need them. A 2020 national standard describes three ways of serving shared food (individual portions, serving utensils, or self-service with your own utensils), but it is voluntary, not a requirement. Shanghai has its own local standard asking for serving utensils with every dish, and that one is voluntary too. If you do not see serving chopsticks, just ask for 公筷.

Rice may come last

At banquets and bigger dinners, the staple food (rice, noodles or dumplings) often comes at the end, after the dishes, to fill up anyone still hungry. In ordinary restaurants rice usually arrives with the food, but not always. If you want rice with your dishes, ask for it when you order: 米饭先上 (mǐfàn xiān shàng, "rice first, please").

Hot water and tea

Many restaurants bring a pot of tea or a glass of hot water when you sit down, and Chinese people often drink warm water through the year. Cold drinks are sold, but if you want them cold, ask for 冰的 (bīng de, "cold one"). When someone pours tea or a drink for you, it is polite to say thank you; when your mouth is full, you can tap the table twice with two fingers instead. The guide to Chinese tea explains the teas you will be served.

Leftovers and the clean plate

An older custom says a host should order more than the guests can finish, and guests leave a little food to show they are full. Today the national "Clean Plate" campaign (光盘行动, guāngpán xíngdòng) pushes the other way, and taking leftovers home is normal at every level of restaurant. The 2025 catering rules say restaurants should remind diners to pack up leftovers and give them boxes on request. Ask for 打包 (dǎbāo, "pack it up").

How to Read a Chinese Menu

Most Chinese menus are long, and many have photos. Once you know how they are organized and what a few characters mean, you can spot what you want even before you open a translation app. A dish name usually follows a pattern: cooking method or flavour + main ingredient + the way it is cut. For example, 红烧 (red-braised) + 肉 (pork) is red-braised pork, and 鱼香 (fish-fragrant) + 肉丝 (pork shreds) is fish-fragrant shredded pork.

Menu sections

Cooking words

Chinese cooks have far more cooking methods than these. Sichuan cooking alone counts more than 40, and even "steaming" splits into several kinds. These are the ones you will see most:

Flavour words

A few ingredient characters help too: 鸡 (jī) chicken, 牛 (niú) beef, 猪 or 肉 (zhū, ròu) pork, 羊 (yáng) lamb, 鱼 (yú) fish, 虾 (xiā) shrimp, 豆腐 (dòufu) tofu, 蛋 (dàn) egg, 菜 (cài) vegetables. Cut words tell you the shape: 丝 (sī) shreds, 片 (piàn) slices, 丁 (dīng) dice, 块 (kuài) chunks.

Quick Comparison

The spice column is a rough guide to how hot a typical dish is, not a rule; every cuisine has mild dishes.

Practical Tips for Eating Across China

Each of these has its own guide, so here is just the short version.

• Ordering without Chinese: point at photos, scan the table QR code and translate the page, or show a dish name on your phone. Our guide on how to order food with zero Chinese walks through every situation, from street stalls to QR menus.
• Useful phrases: 不辣 (bù là, not spicy), 打包 (dǎbāo, to go), 买单 (mǎidān, the bill). More in our survival phrases guide.
• Halal: halal restaurants are easy to find, especially Hui and Xinjiang places and Lanzhou noodle shops; look for 清真 (qīngzhēn, halal) on the sign. See the guide to halal food in China.
• Vegetarian and vegan: many vegetable dishes are cooked in lard or meat stock, so you need to ask. The vegetarian and vegan guide lists safe dishes and Buddhist vegetarian restaurants.
• Street food: the best street food cities guide says where to go and what to eat in each.
• Food safety and allergies: do not drink tap water unboiled, and carry a written note for allergies. See food safety and dietary restrictions.
• Tipping: restaurants in mainland China do not expect tips, and under the Tourism Law licensed tour guides may not ask for them, and a guide who does can be fined. Details are in our tipping guide.

If you want someone to order for you on your first night, a small-group food tour in Chengdu, Xi'an or Guangzhou covers several local dishes in one evening and explains what you are eating; you can compare tours on Klook. A cooking class is the other quick way in: making mapo tofu in Chengdu or folding dumplings in Beijing teaches you the flavour words above with your own hands, and you can find classes on Cookly.

The Bottom Line

Chinese food is many regional cuisines, not one. The Eight Great Cuisines (Sichuan, Cantonese, Shandong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Hunan and Anhui) are the usual way Chinese people group them, and Beijing, Xi'an, Shanghai, Yunnan, the Northeast and Xinjiang add styles of their own. The quick version: Sichuan and Hunan bring the heat, Cantonese, Jiangsu and Zhejiang keep it light or a little sweet, and the north and northwest run on wheat and lamb. At the table, share dishes, use serving chopsticks, and pack up what you cannot finish. In each new city, ask what the local specialty is and order that first. Next, open the food guide for your first city and our guide on how to order food with zero Chinese.

FAQ

Last updated: October 2026