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In the west, people are used to takeout Chinese food such as fried rice, or chicken balls or sweet and sour whatever, etc. This is a small sample of Chinese food and usually quite westernized. 

Try the authentic food
There is an enormous variety of Chinese food that differs greatly from region to region. One interesting thing about Chinese traveling in China or Hong Kong is to try out different food. You will find how different from what you have known from the fast food stand and how enjoyable it will be if you just release yourself from traditional food paradigm. 

Food is a central part of the Chinese culture
Chinese cuisine is one of the greatest methods of cooking. Many elements that have influenced its development. The Chinese people enjoy eating good food at all levels of society so cooking has developed into a very sophisticated art.

Confucius once said: "Eating is the utmost important part of life."
A delightful and delicious meal creates happiness, harmony, mental and physical well-being. Prosperity is another element that has influenced Chinese cooking.  During China's long history, she had several "golden eras". When peace, good weather and intelligent leaders  were combined, both the people and the monarchs developed their culture through art, science, and countless good recipes. Today Chinese, after one hundred year of suffering, are again enjoying their stability and good life. You can try out all the good Chinese food all over the world.     

Famine and hardship
Famine and hardship played a large role in the development of the cuisine. China has been an agricultural civilization for thousands of years and has suffered from poor harvests. During lean years, people would explore everything eatable to stay alive. Many strange and incredible ingredients such as wood ears, lily buds, etc. were discovered and added to Chinese recipes. The scarcity of food also taught people how to avoid waste. Various fruit and vegetable peels and even shark fins turned out to be delicacies in Chinese food. 

Energy Saving
The lack of cooking fuel from thousands of years of settlement and clear-cutting prompted the development of stir-frying.  The need to save fuel became so influential that most Chinese dishes require a lengthy preparation but only a few minutes cooking time. With the current energy crisis the Chinese cooking method offers a practical way to conserve fuel while it delights the taste buds.

Healthier and Tasteful
Most Chinese dishes are cooked with meat and vegetables together, so the foods contain lower calories and are less rich than Western style food. Vegetables stay bright and crisp by cooking them for a short time over high heat, either in their own juice or in a small amount of water. This method retains most of the vitamins and minerals.

Beijing Food

Beijing food is the most famous food of China, particularly known for Beijing Duck.  Much of this fame comes from the fact that the Imperial cuisines were based out of there. Beijing Duck is a time consuming dish to prepare of oven roasted duck with a crispy brown skin. Thin slices of the skin are cut off and put onto a plate where it is wrapped with a fresh flour tortilla with plum sauce, cucumber, and green onion. The rest of the duck is used with additional dishes.  The northern part of China has a cold climate unsuitable to grow rice, so wheat is the primary grain consumed. Northern Chinese eat more breads than those in the south, where rice predominates.

Cantonese Food

Cantonese food or Guangdong food is typically steamed, boiled or stir-fried. It is a very healthy food since it uses minimum of oil. The main ingredients of this type of Chinese food are seafood, pork, chicken and vegetables, but could include almost anything.  You need white rice to accompany the meal to make it complete unless it is a special banquet.  It is said, "the Cantonese eat every thing that flies except planes, every thing on the ground except cars, and every thing that is in water except boats."  In Hong Kong, you will find all the cuisines of China pretty much, but Cantonese cooking predominates. In the morning you could have Dim Sum for breakfast and Beijing Duck for dinner.

Sichuan Food

What is typical of this southwestern province of China is the spicy taste of its food. Many Sichuan dishes are prepared using chili pepper oil, which gives a special taste to the food. The most famous Sichuan dish is the Gongbao (Kung Pao) chicken, fried with peanuts and chili pepper.

  Some noodle knowledge

There are egg noodles, wheat noodles, and rice flour noodles. Wheat noodles are often found in Shanghai noodle dishes.  These are round wheat noodles that are cooked then stir-fried in a savory sauce with chicken, pork and shrimp. Rice flour noodles are often found in Singapore-style noodle dishes and use rice vermicelli noodles cooked with curry powder, shrimp, barbecued pork and ham. Egg noodles are often found in Cantonese restaurants as noodle soup (like won ton mian), or stir-fried in a dish. There are two types of noodle dish. The first is lo mian which is a plate of cooked (boiled) noodles with some barbeque pork or duck and some vegetables on the side of the plate, and accompanied with a bowl of broth. The second is Chow mian in which the noodles are pan fried and then mixed with stir-fried vegetables, meat, and seafood.

Soup

Chinese soups have been part of Chinese meals for a long time. There are many different types of Chinese soups. Sweet corn and hot/sour soups are the most popular soups to westerners. Chinese make their soups with chicken, meat or vegetable stock. Chinese soups are very tasteful and can be light in both texture and flavor. Yet some of the soups are filling enough to be a meal by themselves.

Chinese Tea

Tea drinking is an integral part of Chinese life and the Chinese food experience. Tea is believed to be good for you.  The Chinese were the first to discover the tea leaf and have been drinking tea ever since in many varieties.