Life In China Food Chinese Cuisine

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The highly sophisticated food culture is a unique characteristic to Chinese culture. It is probably also the best-known feature of Chinese culture by foreigners. In almost every country in world, you can find Chinese restaurants. It is commented that Chinese is a lucky people because wherever they go, they can always have hometown food.

This fascination with food, however, is more or less rooted in thousands of years of food insecurity. As a government official pointed out in the 200 B.C., "To ordinary people, food is tantamount to heaven." Such was the importance of food. In fact, even today the question "Have you eaten yet?" remains a popular greeting among Chinese people.

A Typical Chinese Course

• Tea (jasmine green tea or woo-long black tea)
• Appetizer (usually cold seasoned meat)
• Main dishes (as many as ten, usually four dishes plus one soup)
• Dessert

China is a country diverse in climate, ethnicity and subcultures. Not surprisingly therefore, there are many distinctive styles of cuisine. Following are examples of the major culinary styles. Click the highlighted entry, you will get a short description of the specific style, as well as typical dishes and pictures.

• Beijing
• Shanghai
• Cantonese
• Szechwan
• Jiangsu
• Zhejiang