Dining in China

Dining in China

Food in China varies widely from region to region so the term "Chinese food" is pretty much a blanket term, just as the term "Western food" is. While visiting, relax your inhibitions and try a bit of everything. Keep in mind that undercooked food or poor hygiene can cause bacterial or parasitic infection, particularly during warm or hot weather. Thus it is advisable to take great care about (and perhaps abstain from) eating seafood and meat on the street during the summer. In addition, unless you're in Hong Kong, raw meat and seafood should always be avoided. That said, hygiene is better than in, say, the Indian subcontinent. Chinese gourmands place emphasis on freshness so your meal will most likely be cooked as soon as you order it. Searing hot woks over coal or gas fires make even street food usually safe to eat. Do be on the lookout for ripoffs though; it is not at all uncommon to order a common dish (particularly at lowbrow restaurants) and receive a portion that is obviously much smaller than that ordered by a local sitting next to you, while still being charged the full price. However, if you can avoid such blatant tricks, eating in China can be a highlight (perhaps, the highlight) of your trip. NB: Certain dishes are prepared from endangered species, such as stew made from near-extinct turtles from South East Asia or soup flavored by the threatened facai moss, while other dishes may include ingredients that some people may prefer to avoid, such as dog meat. Therefore, it is advised to check the the contents of dishes before ordering.

Generally speaking, rice is the main staple in the south, while wheat, mostly in the form of noodles, is the main staple in the north.

Famous cuisines

* Beijing (京菜): home-style noodles and baozi (bread buns), Peking Duck (北京烤鸭), cabbage dishes, great pickles. Not fancy but can be great and satisfying.

* Imperial (宫廷菜): the food of the late Qing court, made famous by the Empress Dowager Cixi, can be sampled at high-end specialized restaurants in Beijing. The cuisine combines elements of Manchu frontier food with unique and fabulously expensive items such as camel's paw, shark's fin and bird's nest.

* Cantonese / Guangzhou / Hong Kong (粤菜): the style most Western visitors are already familiar with to some extent. Not too spicy, emphasis on freshly cooked ingredients and seafood. Dim Sum (点心) (small snacks usually eaten for lunch/breakfast) are a highlight.

* Fujian (福建菜, 闽菜): ingredients mostly from coastal and estuarial waterways. "Buddha Jumps over a Wall" (佛跳墙) is particularly famous - the story is that the smell was so good a monk forgot his vegetarian vows and leapt over the wall to have some. Can be split into at least two distinct cuisines: Minnan cuisine from the area around Xiamen and Mindong cuisine from the area around Fuzhou.

* Guizhou (黔菜): combines elements of Sichuan and Xiang cuisine, making liberal use of spicy, peppery and sour flavors. The strangely flavored Zhergen (折耳根), a regional root vegetable adds an unmistakable sour-peppery flavor to many dishes. Minority dishes such as the Miao Sour Soup Fish Hot Pot (酸汤鱼) are widely enjoyed.

* Hunan (湘菜): occasionally referred to on menus as Xiang cuisine, is actually the cuisine of the Xiangjiang region, Dongting Lake and western Hunan Province. Similar to Sichuan cuisine, but can actually be "spicier" in the Western sense.

* Shanghai (沪菜): because of its geographical location, Shanghai cuisine is considered to be a good mix of northern and southern Chinese cooking styles. The most famous dishes are xiaolongbao(小笼包) and Chinese chives dumplings (韭菜饺子). Sugar is often added to fried dishes giving Shanghai food a sweet flavor.

* Sichuan (川菜): widely available outside Sichuan, and famously hot and spicy, though not all dishes are made with live chilis. Arguably the finest PRC cuisine. If you want really authentic Sichuanese food outside Sichuan, look for small eateries sporting the characters for Sichuan cuisine in neighborhoods with lots of migrant workers. These tend to be much cheaper and often better than the ubiquitous up-market Sichuan restaurants.

* Teochew / Chaozhou (潮州菜): originating from the Shantou area in northern Guangdong, a unique style which nonetheless will be familiar to most Southeast Asian and Hong Kong Chinese. Famous dishes include braised duck (卤鸭), yam paste dessert (芋泥) and fishballs (鱼丸).

* Zhejiang (浙菜): includes the foods of Hangzhou, Ningbo, and Shaoxing. A delicately seasoned, light-tasting mix of seafood and vegetables often served in soup. Sometimes lightly sweetened or sometimes sweet and sour, Zhejiang dishes frequently involve cooked meats and vegetables in combination.

Fast food

Various types of Chinese food provide quick, cheap, tasty, light meals. Street food and snacks sold from portable vendors can be found throughout Beijing as well as Hong Kong; Wangfujing district's Snack Street in Beijing is a notable area for street food. Street side food vendors are called gai bin dong in Cantonese, such ventures can grow into a substantial business with the stalls only barely 'mobile' in the traditional street food sense:

* Various items from the ubiquitous bakeries.

* A great variety of sweets and sweet food found in China are often sold as street food, rather then as a post-meal dessert course in restaurants as in the West.

* Barbecued sticks of meat from street vendors. Yang rou chuan (羊肉串), or fiery Xinjiang-style lamb kebabs, are particularly renowned.

* Jiaozi (饺子), which Chinese translate as "dumplings", boiled, steamed or fried ravioli-like items with a variety of fillings. These are found throughout Asia: momos, mandu, gyoza, and jiaozi are all basically variations of the same thing.

* Baozi (包子), steamed buns stuffed with salty, sweet or vegetable fillings.

* Mantou (馒头), steamed bread available on the roadside - great for a very cheap and filling snack.

* Lanzhou-style lamian (拉面), fresh hand-pulled noodles - look for a tiny restaurant with staff in Muslim dress, white fez-like hats on the men and head scarves on the women.

* In Guangdong and sometimes elsewhere, dim sum (点心). At any major tourist destination in China, you may well find someone serving dim sum for Hong Kong customers.

The Western notion of fast food has also reached China. McDonald's (麦当劳), KFC (肯德基), and Pizza Hut (必胜客) are ubiquitous, at least in major cities. There are a few Burger Kings (汉堡王). Chinese chains such as Dicos (德克士) - chicken burgers, fries etc., cheaper than KFC and some say better - or Kung Fu (真功夫) which has a more Chinese menu are also widespread.

Etiquette

China is the birthplace of chopsticks and unsurprisingly, food is most commonly eaten with chopsticks in China. There are some points to be observed when eating with chopsticks. Firstly, do not stick your chopsticks vertically into your bowl of rice as it resembles joss sticks burning at the temple; has the connotations of wishing death for those around you. Instead, place them on the chopstick rest if provided, or across the edge of your bowl if there is no chopstick rest. Chopsticks should also not be used to make noise or played with in any way as it is considered rude, just as it is considered rude to play with your fork and knife in the West. Chopsticks are also not used to spear food or move bowls and plates. When eating your rice, bring the edge of the bowl to your mouth and use your chopsticks to push the rice in.

For watery dishes such as soup or porridge, a spoon will be provided. Unlike in Western culture, the dish should be scooped towards you using the spoon, as the Chinese believe that this will rake the wealth in.

Note that in many households and eateries, no serving spoons or communal chopsticks are provided, so diners would typically use their own chopsticks to transfer food to their own bowl. While many Westerners will find this unhygienic, it is usually quite safe and extremely rare for diseases to be spread this way. Nevertheless, if you feel uncomfortable, it is alright to request for communal utensils to transfer food to your own bowl.

Flowers are not used to decorate the dinner table as the Chinese believe that this will allow pollen to fly into the food, making it unhygienic. Talking at the dinner table is common as it is a place where many Chinese socialise. However, making slurping noises or anything similar, while common, is considered unrefined behaviour and should be avoided.

Drink

The Chinese love a tipple and the all-purpose word jiǔ (酒) covers quite a range of alcoholic drinks.

Toasting

Chinese toast with the word gànbēi ("empty glass", bottoms up), and traditionally you are expected to drain the glass in one swig. Toasts usually involve only two people, rather than the whole group as in the West. During a meal with locals, the visitor is often expected to drink one glass with each person present; sometimes there may be considerable pressure to do this.

Exercise caution. Fortunately, the glasses are usually small — even beer is often drunk from an oversized shot glass. Also, Chinese beer is generally around 3% alcohol, so it is 'weaker' than Western standards (usually 5%). However the Chinese liquor, baijiu, is definitely potent (up to 65% alcohol). Baijiu is often drunk in small shot glasses for a good reason. US president Nixon practiced drinking before his first trip to China to be ready to drink with Mao Zedong. Unless you are used to imbibing heavily, be very careful when drinking with Chinese.

If you want to take it easier but still be sociable, say suíbiàn before you make the toast, then drink only part of the glass. It may also be possible to have three toasts (traditionally signifying friendship) with the entire company, rather than one separate toast for every individual present.

Be sure to reciprocate any toast to you. In 1970 when in China preparing for President Nixon's historic visit, Secretary of State Alexander Haig and his staff neglected to follow this protocol. For failing to do so they were sent out on West Lake in Hangzhou in an unheated boat with no food in the middle of winter and left there. Beijing had to intervene to tell the local officials to be nice to them anyhow and they received a "warmer" send-off when they flew out of Shanghai.

Alcohol

Beer (啤酒 píjiǔ) is very common in China and is served in nearly every restaurant. The most famous brand is Tsingtao (青島) from Qingdao, which was at one point a German concession. Other brands abound and are generally light beers in a pilsner or lager style with 3% to 4% alcohol. In addition to national brands, most cities will have one or more cheap local beers. Some companies (Tsingtao, Yanjing) also make a dark beer (hēipíjiǔ 黑啤酒). The typical price for beer is about ¥2.5-4 in a grocery store, ¥4 to ¥8 in a restaurant, around ¥10 in an ordinary bar, and ¥20-30 or more in a fancier bar.

Unfortunately, most places outside of major cities serve beer at room temperature, regardless of season, though places that cater to tourists have it cold.

Red wine is common and much of it is reasonably priced, from ¥15 in a grocery store, about ¥100-150 in a fancy bar. Anyone used to European, Australian, or Californian wines will find the general quality in China appalling. There are perhaps some exceptions. But an experienced drinker of wine is unlikely to be satisfied with Chinese wines as they are made today. Bars commonly serve red wine over ice and sometimes mixed with Sprite, like a 'wine cooler'. There are also a few white and sparkling white wines. Quality on those is reportedly better than the reds.

Xinjiang offers decent wines; Suntime [25], with a passable Cabernet Sauvignon; Yizhu, located in Yili and specializing in ice wine; and the French-owned Les Champs D'or, for best overall winery in China. Ningxia and Gansu produce some decent wines (hot and dry in summer and cold in winter) while what comes out of Shandong and Hebei are blah (warm and moist in summer and not so cold in winter). Imperial Horse and Xixia labels from Ningxia, Mogao Ice Wine from Gansu and maybe Castle Estates from Shandong are decent brands with a small history of quality about them. Yunnan wines are generally rated highly, but not all of them deserve it; Shangrila wine from around Zhongdian is one that does.

Great Wall and Dynasty are large brands with a number of wines at various prices; their cheaper (under ¥40) offerings are generally not impressive. Chang Yu is another large brand; some of their low end wines are a bit better.

There are also several brands and types of rice wine. These do not generally much resemble Japanese sake, the only rice wine well-known in the West. Travelers' reactions to these vary widely.

Báijiǔ (白酒) is distilled liquor, generally about 80 to 120 proof made from sorghum and sometimes other grains depending on the region. As the word "jiǔ" is often loosely translated as "wine" by Chinese beverage firms and English speakers, baijiu is frequently referred to as "white wine" in conversation. If you are looking for Western-style grape wines be sure to ask for pútaojiǔ (葡萄酒 - grape wine) to ensure you are getting what you want.

Máotái (茅台), made in Guizhou Province, is China's most famous brand of baijiu and China's national liquor. Made from sorghum, Maotai and it's expensive cousins (such as Kaoliang in Taiwan) are actually sweeter than western clear liquors as the sorghum taste is preserved - in a way. The cheapest baijiu is the Beijing brewed èrguōtóu (二锅头) which comes in two variants - the clear bottle (56% alcohol) and the green bottle (65% alcohol). Ordering "xiǎo èr" (Erguotou's diminutive nickname) will likely raise a few eyebrows and a chuckle from working class Chinese.

Baijiu will typically be served at banquets and festivals in tiny shot glasses. Toasts are ubiquitous at banquets or dinners on special occasions. Most foreigners find baijiu tastes like diesel fuel, while a liquor connoisseur may find high quality, expensive baijiu quite good. Baijiu is definitely an acquired taste, but once the taste is acquired, it's quite fun to "ganbei" a glass or two at a banquet.

Chinese brandy (白兰地) is excellent value, about the same price as grape wines and generally far more palatable than the baijiu. A ¥16-20 local brandy is not a ¥200+ imported brand-name cognac, but it is close enough that you should only buy the cognac if money doesn't matter. Expats debate the relative merits of brandies from French-owned Louis Wann [26], Chinese brand Changyu [27], and several others. All are drinkable.

The Chinese are also great fans of various supposedly medicinal liquors, which usually contain exotic herbs and/or animal parts. Some of these have prices in the normal range and include ingredients like ginseng. These can be palatable enough, if tending toward sweetness. Others, with unusual ingredients (snakes, turtles, etc.) and steep price tags, are probably best left to those that enjoy them.

Source: http://wikitravel.org/en/China