China covers a large territory and consists of many nationalities. There is a variety of Chinese food with different flavors. Generally, Chinese food is divided into eight regional cuisines.

Eight Cuisines:

Shandong Cuisine-

Shandong cuisine is the only cuisine that exists in the northern part of China. Shandong cuisine is rooted in its ancient traditions. Shandong is the birthplace of many famous philosophers, such as Confucius and Mencius. And much of the history of Shandong’s cuisine is as old as Confucius himself, making it the oldest existing cuisine in China.  The cuisine of Shandong is mainly characterized by its emphasis on aroma, freshness, crispness and tenderness. Shallot and garlic are usually used as seasoning, and so Shandong dishes usually taste pungent. Shandong is a large peninsula surrounded by the sea to the East, and the yellow river meandering through its center. As a result, seafood is the major ingredient of Shandong cuisine. Shandong’s most famous dish is the Sweat and Sour Carp.

Szechuan Cuisine-

Szechuan cuisine mainly emphasizes the use of pepper. It is famous for its pungent and spicy flavor.  Sichuan is in the southwestern part of China, where the climate is wet all year round, and people often get rheumatism. Spicy food can protect them from rheumatism, colds, and even injuries, to some extent. On the other hand, it can also increase appetite and facilitate digestion. Therefore, people there have formed a habit of eating spicy food and will feel disconsolate without spicy food. It is very popular in the U.S. as well. The famous dishes that I would recommend: Kung Pao Chicken, Twice cooked Pork, and Fuqi Feipian.

ZheJiang Cuisine (Southern part of China)-

By the East China Sea, Zhejiang Province has a temperate climate, abundant products and a long culinary history. Zhejiang Cuisine includes a wide variety of refined and delicate dishes, which are tasty, tender, soft, crisp and refreshing. Zhejiang food isn’t greasy, and instead, has a fresh and soft flavor with a mellow fragrance. Zhejiang cuisine specializes in quick-frying, stir-frying, deep-frying, simmering and steaming, obtaining the natural flavor and taste. Famous dishes: West Lake Sour Fish, Dongpo Pork, Longjing Shrimp Meat, Jiaohua Young Chickens, Steam Rice Flower and Pork Wrapped by Lotus Leaves, and Braised Bamboo Shoots and Whitefish with Fermented Glutinous Rice.

Jiangsu Cuisine (Southern part of China)-

Known as “a land of fish and rice” in China, Jiangsu Province has a rich variety of ingredients available for cooking. Jiangsu cuisine has the characteristics of strictly selected ingredients, exquisite workmanship, elegant shape, and rich culture trait. The typical raw materials are fresh and live aquatic products. It highlights the freshness of ingredients. Other cooking ingredients are often carefully selected, like tea leaves, bamboo shoots, mushrooms, pears, and dates. Its carving techniques are delicate, of which the melon carving technique is the most well known. Due to use of methods like stewing, braising, quick-frying, warming-up, stir-frying, wine sauce pickling and adding some sugar as condiments, Jiangsu dishes taste fresh, light and mellow. Recommended dishes: Braised spare ribs and Whitebait omelet.

Anhui Cuisine(Southern part of China)-

Anhui is the climate transition zone. There are many different kinds of foods in Anhui.  Anhui cuisine pays much attention to the cultured colors and fresh materials. It is good at stewing and braising. Hams and sugar would also often be added to improve the taste. Famous dishes: Huizhou hair bean curd and Braise in soy sauce masked civet.

Cantonese Cuisine (Southern part of China)-

Cantonese cuisine is also as known as Yue cuisine and Guangdong cuisine. It is located in the Guangdong province of China. Since Guangdong is in a subtropical zone, there is abundant rainfall and four seasons evergreen here. Therefore, Guangdong food is always richly endowed by nature. It tastes crispy, light and fresh, and tries to keep the original taste of the ingredients. The people in the North part of China describe the Cantonese as those who eat anything they find.

Hunan cuisine (Southern part of China)-

Hunan cuisine is well known for its dry and spicy taste. Due to the location of Hunan, it is often moist, so therefore, it is important to eat some peppers, in order to stay healthy.

Fujian cuisine (Southern part of China)-

Fujian cuisine is known to be light but at the same time, flavorful, soft, and tender, with particular emphasis on umami taste.

As seen, different areas of the same country, have their own unique eating behaviors, that have been formed throughout history. These behaviors are continuous, and people often find it very difficult to change their habits.