Chinese food
Essential facts for a first time western traveler to China
With origins dating back millennia, the history of Chinese food is certainly long and incredibly delicious.
Chinese cuisine is said to have originated in the central part of China, and is one of just three cuisines (French and Turkish are the other two) that profoundly influenced countries throughout East Asia. Studies of Chinese food history point to literature that indicate China was cooking barbecued meat, grilled fish, and other ‘common’ foods over 5,000 years ago.
There are many things which distinguish Chinese food: ethnic influences, regional diversity, geographic location, availability of ingredients. However, there are some general principles.
As Chinese food evolved through history, influenced greatly by natural disasters and poor harvest, the cuisine was crafted around the five flavors of Yiyin - sweet, sour, bitter, pungent, and salty - more on this below. Dishes tend to be prepared following one or a number of preparation methods. A Chinese cook - whether domestic or commercial - will know how to braise, steam, stir-fry, deep-fry, boil, or roast. Fermentation is also a feature of Chinese food, making its way into sauces, side dishes, and condiments. And of course, there is the ubiquitous presence of steamed rice at virtually every meal.
Yes, there is more to Chinese food than these fews facts, so let’s do some historical food exploration.
Yi Yin: The Culinary God of China
Over 3,500 years ago, Yi Yin was not only a politician, thinker, and minister during the Shang Dynasty, he was also a great master of cooking. Yi Yin was regarded as a philosophical chef or the Culinary God of China, on the basis of his philosophy the whole world was a kitchen. In fact, as a way to encourage the pursuit of Tang during the Shang Dynasty, he translated the “philosophy of governance” into a “mouth-watering recipe”. Essentially, this philosophy made an analogy between “the principle of cooking” and the “principles of state administration”.
In simple terms, this meant managing the country was a bit like cooking a delicious meal. Bringing together different raw ingredients, using different cooking methods, and drawing on heat control elements of good quality water, wood, and fire, it is possible to produce harmony between the five flavors of sweet, sour, bitter, pungent, and salty. Yi Yin’s theory of the harmony between five flavors of Chinese cooking endures today having pervaded other areas of Chinese life. Read more
Just take its influence in traditional Chinese medicine wherein it is taught the harmony of five flavors not only improves the enjoyment of taste, but also helps with health by keeping balance in the body. It is even recommended for treatment of illness and injury. One fine example of how traditional Chinese medicine was influenced by Yi Yin is through the main method of taking Chinese medicine, which is drinking Chinese medicine soup. Otherwise known as Chinese medicine herbal tea made from certain plants and herbs, legend has it that Yi Yin created the “soup” method for taking medicine.
History of Chinese food: Dining through the dynasties
There is no question that Chinese people love their food. Not only are regional flavors of importance, planning, preparing, and sharing meals communally with friends and family rests at the heart of Chinese culture .
It’s hardly a surprise to learn that this appreciation of food has been around for a very long time. It seems we have much to thank the Shang Dynasty, earliest recorded in China. Aside from the significant advances made in maths, astronomy, art, and military technology, it was during Shang Dynasty rule that the five flavors of Yiyin appeared.
Further culinary evolution followed during the Zhou Dynasty, appearing as the famous - and lucky flavors - of the ‘Eight Treasures’ . Each subsequent dynasty, including the Han, Wei, Southern, and Northern dynasties, brought with it new flavors and culinary developments. Read more
However, food historians agree that it was the Song Dynasty which represented the pinnacle of evolution in Chinese cuisine. During this period, hundreds of dishes took shape: hot and cold, soups, and dishes of great color and flavor, adding to the existing repertoire based on the predominant South, North and Sichuan flavors.
Later dynasties (Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties) continued this seemingly unstoppable trend, with many thousands of dishes emerging. Particularly during the Qing Dynasty, until the beginning of the Republic of China when more foreigners arrived in China, Chinese food was influenced by western cuisine and a fusion of flavors was born.
After the People’s Republic of China was founded, and particularly since 1979, traditional dishes from all parts of China have re-emerged and returned to popularity. More recently, there has even been a trend to imitate the food of the Tang and Song dynasties, as well as Confuscian and Honglou dishes.
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Chinese food: A variety of cuisines
As a country that is expansive and diverse geographically, there is huge variability in climate, availability of ingredients, agricultural production, culture and beliefs. Consequently, regional cuisines emerged, creating the many flavors of China.
It is widely recognised there are eight major Chinese culinary traditions that are representative of different regions and flavors.
Shandong
Shandong
Sweet and sour carp and braised sea cucumber with scallion
Si Chuan
Si Chuan
Cantonese
Cantonese
Min
Min
Su (Huaiyang)
Su (Huaiyang)
Zhe
Zhe
Xiang
Xiang
Hui
Hui
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The role of rice in Chinese food
You could be forgiven for thinking rice accompanies every Chinese meal, however it’s a false assumption depending on where you are.
Of course, there is no doubt rice is a companion to many dishes, however, those living in China’s north are more likely to consume dumplings, wheat noodles and steam buns with a meal. This is due in large part because the northern part of China is colder and drier where it is conducive to wheat production. By contrast, in China’s south, the climate is ideal for growing rice, so it is more likely your meal will be accompanied by rice or rice noodles. Read more
At an informal Chinese meal, each individual usually is given their own bowl of rice to accompany dishes served on communal plates that are shared by everyone around the table. Apart from steamed rice, Chinese rice congee and fried rice are popular in Chinese families, while plain congee with side dishes and youtiao are typical Chinese breakfasts. Traditional fried rice is made with egg and green onions, however if you’re after something more like the dish that is known and loved in every Chinese restaurant around the world, add your own medley of ingredients.
Other interesting facts about Chinese food
So how do you eat Chinese food?
Chopsticks are the western equivalent of ‘cutlery’, used to consume all manner of solid food. Soups and other liquid foods, on the other hand, are eaten with a flat ceramic spoon.
And what about the essential elements of producing a delicious Chinese meal? Take note! As a minimum, you must carefully select and prepare the finest ingredients, bring your very best knife skills, apply the correct cooking principles with heat neither too high nor low, and use precise seasoning. Read more
Chinese cooking methods are diverse. Depending on the dish, the chef will be called upon to stir-fry, stir, steam, boil, stew, simmer, blanch, roast, braise, sauce, pan-fry, deep-fry, bake, smoke. Given the thousands of Chinese dishes, it’s not surprising that each of these can be divided into several categories. The right application of heat is key, and each cooking method applies the heat in a different way. Take steamed pork ribs as an example. Left too long, the meat will overcook; too short and the meat will be underdone.
The order in which Chinese food is consumed is important too. Meals always start with cold dishes, then progress to hot stir-fried dishes, and large dishes (such as a whole steamed fish or roast lamb). Sweet dishes, like white fungus and lotus seeds sweet soup are the precursor to the meal ending with freshly cut fruits. Typically, savoury and light taste dishes are served first, while sweet and strong tasting dishes are served later.
And a final fun fact about Chinese food? The most popular Chinese dishes for westerners are really nothing like you get back home. When you visit China, expect to savor and enjoy all your favorites: sweet and sour pork, kung pao chicken, ma po tofu, wonton soup, dumplings (every possible kind), spring rolls, chow mein and Peking Duck (the real thing!).
Did you know?
UNESCO’s City of Gastronomy project was launched in 2004. There are thirty-six Cities of Gastronomy that have been nominated since then. China has four Cities of Gastronomy on the list which are Chengdu, Macao, Shunde and Yangzhou.
Food in main Chinese cities
Chinese Food Articles
Testimonials
- John wrote a review March 4, 2023A great way to experience TaiwanDate of experience: Feb 2023Booking the tour was very easy and Martha was always available to email and answer all enquires at every stage. The tour enabled us to see and experience so much of the Taiwan in 9 days. It was very well planned and organised. Alan the tour guide and his driver were always on time, helpful and informative. We went to so many brilliant places, learned so much about Taiwan and had the most memorable times. Thank you for making our trip to Taiwan such a brilliant experience.
- Mark I wrote a review Feb. 2020London, United KingdomChina Tours Trip In ChinaDate of experience: December 2019Our China tour started at the end of December. We began our trip in Beijing, which was a bracing -12C when we arrived. We were met at the airport and would add that all pick-ups were on time each morning for tours, and at all stations or airports as well. Our first day was free in Beijing, so we explored, following the tip to visit the National Museum which has amazing stuff on display (as did the Xi'an Shaanxi museum and Shanghai museum later in the trip). We found a great Peking Duck restaurant which was a short walk from the hotel. The queuing system was a case of organised chaos in such a small space, but the meal was well worth waiting for. Best duck ever!
William was our guide in Beijing, and our tour comprised 5 people including us. All the guides were very good, but William takes the star prize. He was interesting and informative, but also a laugh. The usual sights in Beijing were awesome and splendid, but the highlight was the Great Wall, as we expected. When we saw the Temple of Heaven, there is an area where people – or their mothers – have their CVs to find a marriage partner. One of the mothers took a shine to one of our party on behalf of her daughter, and when she discovered he was a lawyer, became very interested. The rest of us found this more amusing than he did!
The bullet train was a nice relaxing journey to Xi'an. Our party of 5 split on the second day as we went to different locations next, but we all saw the Terracotta Army, which is another “must see”. The wall at Xi'an is big enough and was getting decorated for the coming spring festival (year of the Rat), but after the Great Wall, was less impressive. We all enjoyed the market and had a lunch in the Muslim area which was great fun, followed by a ridiculously cheap group hotpot that evening involving much use of online translation on our phones!
The next day, Sally took over from Helen, and despite spending only part of a day with her, she was great. Having only two of us going around the Shaanxi museum, she was able to help us with anything we found interesting, going at our pace. We left on another bullet train to Chengdu.
The journey was shorter than before, and we met David, our guide. The next day was an early start to go to the Panda Base. What an amazing day! It was fabulous feeding pandas by hand and cleaning out their enclosures. The park has been designed brilliantly, so we also wandered to see other pandas (including cute red pandas). We were struck how lovely it was to be in a less built up space after our largely city based tours before. David had been to the Panda Base before, so knew what to do, and was a fantastic guide there.
Beijing had had clear blue skies and not at all polluted, contrary to what we had expected, but Xi'an and Chengdu were more polluted. This was the trade off going in winter, although this also meant that the tourist attractions were far less busy.
The next morning in Chengdu David took us to the Pavilion Park, where we sat drinking tea (green obviously) and learning Mahjong. We also managed to have our ears massaged and shoes cleaned, although the locals were most interested in our newly taught Mahjong prowess. It was a lovely way to while away a couple of hours and contributed to our stay in Chengdu being fondly very remembered. We went to the airport to fly to Shanghai.
Shanghai was about as different as anything could be to Xi'an, and even much of Beijing. It is as blingy and modern as Xi'an reflects the ancient part of the country. Our guide Hugo showed us parts of the different concessions in the city as well as the museum, but the Yuyuan Garden was lovely. Later we met up with two of our original tour group for cocktails at the rooftop bar of the Hyatt on the Bund, seeing the spectacular lights. We managed a return trip on the Maglev train which was a marvellous way to bring our China tour to an end.
In summary, the organisation was fantastic. Everything went as planned, and the guides were all very helpful and easy to talk to. The hotels were fine throughout, although in our case, we found the Chengdu hotel – which was the swankiest we stayed in – was less well placed to explore too much for places to eat, particularly as we arrived later in the day and had a long day at the Panda Base. Transportation was fine throughout, too. Bus, car, train and plane were all good.
We originally considered a private tour but went for a small group one at a lower price. This is well worth it in winter, as the group is unlikely to be even close to the 12 maximum. The mix of locations and sights was perfect for us. Prices of meals were similar or lower than we expected, so we spent less than we took with us.
There were so many highlights, so it is difficult to choose which pictures to show, but the attached is a very small sample from what was a truly wonderful holiday.
- rogergreen113 wrote a review 22 January 2020BEIJING-XI’AN-GUILLIN-SHANGHAI PRIVATE TOURWe are an Australian family who took the private tour from 24 December 2019 to 3 January 2020. China tours Co. had organized a meticulous tour for our family. Apart from the Shanghai stage, other stops were historic and memorable. The key attraction for China is her rich history. It would be very important that the tour guides must learn and comprehend Chinese History, not only PLA, Communist Revolution, or China Modernisation, Silk Road - One Belt - One Road, guests would be much more interested in her ancient history. Just imagine that when Qin Shi Huang connected the Great Wall to protect his newly formed dynasty - Qin, Jesus Christ was not even conceived yet, let alone the development and establishment of many great dynasties before his. Tour guides should treat this issue very carefully because of many tour guests who have studied Chinese History as their majors in High School and in University. They travel with two purposes, to see and to verify the historical records.
Read moreTo avoid the misunderstanding, that could be interpreted as a deception, in the itinerary of the tour, the program details must be utterly succinct and concise, i.e. Day 1: Receive the tour guests from Airport and deliver guests to the prebooked hotel. Tour guide will briefly explain the tour to the guests. This is the first day of arrival, the tour manager would like to leave the guest a resting time for recovering after a