![Top 8 most famous Chinese Cuisines](http://cdn.antianfan.com/7wW0dw5jgvKlD07fJgHDI5Cj1bU0Qyvq.jpg)
Sweet and Sour Pork, Kung Pao Chicken, Ma Po Tofu, Wontons, Dumplings, Chow Mein, Peking Roasted Duck, Spring Rolls......
I guess you guys more or less have heard about these well-known typical Chinese dishes. Maybe some of you have been crazy fans of Chinese traditional cuisines for a while, may even have tasted respectable different flavors of cuisines. Well, I don't know whether you have noticed that there are so many various tastes of cuisines all over China, with the high richness in cooking methods, food materials and variety of flavors.
They are actually divided into the cuisines of Sichuan, Shanghai, Cantonese, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Hunan and Anhui, based on various geographic locations, climate and dietary habits.
So, why not make up your mind which is your favorite with a food tour through China? There's so many for you to try!
1. Guangdong/Cantonese Cuisine
Guangdong Cuisine ?? Yuècài in Mandarin, has been the first to win international reputation since 20th century by drawing some advantages from western-style food. I believe when it comes to cantonese food, the first thing that comes to mind besides its abundant morning tea must be the cuisines made of various exotic animals.
Actually Guangdong Cuisine has a large wide variety of food materials which can be made into ever-changing forms and flavors with an emphasis on the principles of freshness, softness and smoothness. Foods vary from light diet in spring and winter to strong flavors in winter and autumn with a preference for stewing, steaming and braising.
So, during the food tour of Guangdong Cuisine, you will experience pleasant surprises when trying its venisons and health conscious soups.
2. Sichuan Cuisine
Your first impression on this cuisine must be “How spicy! How hot!”. Yeah, usually we call Sichuan Cuisine ?? Chu?ncài in Chinese. Hot pot must be the first choice that you want to have a try when you're in the midst of Chengdu and Chongqing, from which we also can see this cuisine features a heavy flavor of sweet, sour, piquant, hot-spicy, heavy-oil and strong-taste.
So a lot of consideration in seasoning and they can't cook without chili, pepper, Sichuan pepper and ginger, known to people with its pungency, sour and spicy-numbness, like Ma Po Tofu and Poach beef with hot chili.
3. Jiangsu Cuisine
In Chinese we call Jiangsu Cuisine ?? S?cài, which features fresh food ingredients, moderate taste of salt and sugar, adept culinary skill. The locals are really passionate for the cuisines like seafood feast and fresh sweet soups with sensuous and multi-coloured appearance.
What makes it so particular is the elegant and sophisticated cooking skills that can produce richly fragrant and visually aesthetic dishes. Their chefs also put much attention to study new gourmet in order to improve people's health by making great use of the food materials.
4. Zhejiang Cuisine
Zhejiang Cuisine is called?? Zhècài in Mandarin. It features the delicate flavor, using seafood ingredients, freshwater fish, bamboo sprouts, and a wide variety of cooking methods.
Zhejiang Province is located on the south of Jiangsu province and neighbors Shanghai, the largest city in China, so their cooking style similar, but it is less prepared with elaborate detail. They take more notice in serving fresh food which is often served raw or almost raw, more like Japanese food. Most food ingredients are in current season and unsalted, but expectedly Ningbo cuisine is very salty relatively.
5. Fujian/Min Cuisine
Fujian Cuisine ?? M?ncài in Chinese, stressing mild flavor like a light sweet and sour taste, whose food ingredients most from the sea and hills.
As a coastal area, Fujian Province is noted for extremely high-quality seafood cuisines and soups, unlike other Chinese cuisines of mouth-numbed spices. With the addition of many wild delicacies from land and sea, Min Cuisine has its own unique flavors, which are a culinary adventure of flavors.