For most Chinese people, the old saying - "Food is the first necessity of the people." is still very true today. Delicious and nutritious food has been regarded as the basics of ordinary life.

The Chinese culinary culture can be traced to start as early as the Shang and Zhou Dynasties (221 B.C. to 11th century). People have since been exploring new cooking techniques - from brevity to variety, from rudimentary to advanced stage, from day-to-day snacks to feasts, even to palatial dishes and delicacies. Also, the Chinese dishes gradually began to be separated by southern and northern tastes. In general, the southern dishes emphasize freshness and tenderness. Due to the cold weather in the north, dishes there are more oily, and the use of vinegar and garlic is popular. Since wheat was grown in the north while rice was abundant in the South, most people in North China eat noodles, dumplings and other food made from wheat flour while the majority in the South eat rice daily.

With the cultural and economic development of different regions in China, distinct local flavors were developed in the regional dishes, such as the "Lo Choy" (Shandong dishes) in the north, the "Yuet Choy" (Canton dishes) in the South, the "Chuen Choy" (Sichuan dishes) in the West, "Wei Yeung Choy" (Yangzhou dishes) in the East. These are four oldest types of Chinese regional food. Some people summed up the characteristic flavors of the four major regional dishes in the following expression: "Light in the South, salty in the North, spicy hot in the West and sweet in the East."

The four regions gradually evolved into eight provincial groups: the Shandong (Lo), Sichuan (Chuen), Guangdong (Yuet), Jiangsu (So), Zhejiang (Jit), Anhui (Fai), Hunan (Sheung) and Fujian (Mun). Each of these groups has its own culinary techniques and specialties. On the other hand, the influence of politics, geography, emigration, import, local custom and other factors has propagated the development of localized culinary art and flavor in large cities and other provinces. The dishes of Beijing, Shanghai, Chiu Chow, Hubei and Hakka all have their own distinct characteristics.

Consisting of Jinan cuisine and Jiaodong cuisine, Shandong cuisine, salty with predominantly light colored sauce, is characterized by its emphasis on aroma, freshness, crispness and tenderness. Shallot and garlic are usually used as seasonings so Shangdong dishes usually tastes pungent. Soups are prominent in Shangdong dishes. Consommé soup is clear and fresh while creamy soup looks thick and tastes strong. Jinan cuisine are prepared by deep-frying, grilling, and quick-frying (Bao) while Jiaodong dishes are famous for their seafood with fresh and light taste.

Popular dishes: Bird's Nest Soup; the Yellow River Carp in Sweet and Sour Sauce, Steamed Pork in Wine, Dezhou Broiling Chicken, Hot Candied Yam.

Jiangsu cuisine, also called Huaiyang Cuisine, highlights the use of the freshest of ingredients. Its carving techniques are delicate, of which the melon carving technique is especially well known. The masterful culinary skills are sauteing, steaming, stewing and braising. White sauce is commonly used in this cuisine. The flavor is light, fresh and sweet and with delicate elegance.

The Jiangsu dishes can be classified into that of Suzhou-Wuxi style and Zhenjiang-Yangzhou style. The feature of Suzhou-style dishes is their natural flavor in original stock and a mixture of salty and sweet taste. The characteristics of Zhenjiang-Yangzhou style food are best described by the saying that the soup is so clear that you can see the bottom of the bowl and the sauce is so thick that it turns creamy white.

Popular dishes: Stewed Crab with Clear Soup, Long-boiled and Dry-shredded Meat, Duck Triplet, Crystal Meat, Squirrel with Mandarin Fish, and Liangxi Crisp Eel.

Zhejiang cuisine comprises local cuisines of Hanzhou, Ningbo and Shaoxing. Dishes of Hangzhou style are meticulously prepared, hence tasty and crisp. A blend of freshness and saltiness characterize dishes of Ningbo style. Steamed and roasted seafood is Ningbo's specialty. Shaoxing food, with poultry as its main specialty, is palatable, crisp and glutinous. Hangzhou Cuisine is the most famous one among the three.

Popular dishes: Sour West Lake Fish, Longjing Shelled Shrimp, Beggar's Chicken.

Szechuan is characterised by a warm, semi-tropical climate. An ingenuous reflection of its environment, Szechuan cuisine is hot, spicy, tangy and what some people will say, 'robust' and 'loud', so as to rid the body of excessive fluids and to counter the effect of Szechuan's humidity.

Szechuan chefs often add rich spices into their dishes. The spices include star anise, fennel seed, chili, coriander, and garlic. Common methods of cooking are smoking and shimmering that will give the fragrant seasonings time to infuse the food with mouth-watering tastes and aromas. However, not all the dishes of this cuisine are hot and spicy. Szechuan cuisine also features a variety of noodles and steamed bread

Popular dishes: Hot and Sour Soup, Mapo Doufu, Kung Pao Chicken, Twice-cooked Pork, Fish-flavored Shredded Pork, Stir-fried Chicken Dices with Peanut, Crispy Beef Deep-fried with Tangy Kumquat Peel, and Smoked Duck in Camphor Wood and Tea Leaves.

Anhui cuisine uses a wide selection of cooking ingredients such as tea leaves, bamboo shoots, mushrooms, pears, dates, fresh water fish, seafood and games.

Anhui Cuisine chefs focus a lot of attention on the temperature in cooking and are good at braising and stewing. Often hams will be added to improve taste and sugar candy added to gain freshness.

Popular dishes: Stewed Snapper, Huangshan Braised Pigeon

Hunan cuisine consists of local Cuisines of Xiangjiang Region, Dongting Lake and Xiangxi coteau. . Hunan food is characterized by its hot and sour flavor, fresh aroma, greasiness, deep color, and the prominence of the main flavor in each dish. Chili, pepper and shallot are widely used in the dishes. Hunan food is hot because the climate is very humid, which makes it difficult for the human body to eliminate moisture. The local people eat hot peppers to help remove dampness and cold

The main cooking methods for Hunan dishes are braising, double-boiling, steaming and stewing. It is also renowned for its sour and spicy flavors and frequent use of preserved meat in cooking.

Popular dishes: Dongan Chicken, Peppery and Hot Chicken, Stir-fried Tripe Slivers, Tripe in Duck's Web Soup, Dried Scallop and Eggwhite, Xiaoxiang Turtle, Steamed Cured Meat and Hot and Spicy Frog Leg.

Guangdong is located in southern China. Bordered by the mountain ranges to the north and the South China Sea to the south, it has long been separated from the mainland. The culinary culture of Guangdong has retained many eating habits and customs of the ancient people, such as eating snakes, game and other exotic ingredients. In fact, to the people of Guangdong, everything that walks, crawls, flies, or swims is edible. A humorous saying is that, "Cantonese eat all the flying except plane, and all the four-leg except table." Guangdong cuisine has absorbed the cooking skills of the West as well as the cooking skills of other Chinese regions to develop its own unique methods. The most characteristic cooking methods are cooking in salt, cooking in wine, baking in a pan, and soft-frying. Soft-frying is another unique cooking method of the Guangdong cuisine. The main ingredients are liquid or semi-liquid, such as fresh milk and minced chicken.

Guangdong cuisine emphasizes seafood, and unique, mixed flavorings with spice, wine, and condiments such as oyster sauce, fish sauce, clam sauce, and curry. An emphasis on preserving the natural flavor of the food is the hallmark of Guangdong cuisine. It is important that a dish is not overcooked or too heavily seasoned. Thus many dishes are stir-fried or steamed - both these cooking methods allow foods to retain their natural taste.

Guangdong people are fortunate in living in an area with abundant fresh food ingredients - including fish and shellfish, tropical fruit, rice and a wide array of vegetables. They believe it is paramount that these be as fresh as possible. However, the people are also very inventive, and happy to incorporate non-native ingredients in their cooking. Artistic presentation and garnishing are emphasized.

Guangdong is well known for its Dim Sum, snack-like delicacies of savoury and sweet buns, steamed meat with vegetable and pastries. Dim Sum are served for breakfast and lunch. Guangdong cuisine is also famous for its roast meats such as pork and duck.

Popular dishes: Salt-Cooked Chicken, Pigeons Cooked in Rose Wine, Baked Egg, Stir-fried Fresh Milk, Beef with Oyster Sauce, Fried Rice, Steamed Chicken, Steamed Sea Bass, Stir-fried Lobster, Roasted Piglet and Shark's Fin Soup.

Fujian cuisine emphasizes seafood, river fish, and shrimp. The Fujian coastal area produces 167 varieties of fish and 90 kinds of turtles and shellfish. It also produces edible bird's nest, cuttlefish, and sturgeon. These special products are all used in Fujian cuisine.

The most characteristic aspect of Fujian cuisine is that its dishes are served in soup. Fujian dishes are also slightly sweet and sour, and less salty. Its cooking methods are stewing, boiling, braising, quick-boiling, and steaming,

In Fujian cuisine, an important flavoring and coloring material is red distiller's grain. It is a glutinous rice fermented with red yeast. After being kept in a sealed vessel for one year, the grain acquires a sweet and sour flavor and a rose-red color. Chicken, duck, fish, and pork can be flavored with the red grain as well as spiral shells, clams, mussels, bamboo shoots, and even vegetables.

Popular Dishes: Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, Sea Mussel Quick-boiled in Chicken Soup, Lychee Pork, Sweet and Sour Pork, Snow Chicken, Prawn with Dragon's Body and Phoenix's Tail.

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