The Chinese are accustomed to calling all kinds of delicious fare "rare tastes from the mountains and seas." These delicacies include bear paws, bird's nest, Shark-wing, sea cucumbers, elephant trunk, camel's hump, deer tail, monkey brain and the like. The ancient Chinese listed "eight treasured foods" as the cream of the crop. Bear's paw was at the top of the

Several years ago, the Lamb Hotpot was still a premium treat for guests.

The duck, in traditional Chinese medicine, is a premium tonic food.

The snack street of Wufujing in Beijing.

   These high-class foods are now very rare in Chinese diet, even in high-class restaurants. With increased awareness for wild animal preservation in recent years, guiding the trend of food culture, instead, are some very unique regional specialties.

    China's distinguished geological and climatic conditions and resources in its many regions, together with the unique dietary habits of the local people, have forged the many different styles of Chinese cuisines. Such as Lu, Chuan, Yue, Su, Jing, Min, ZhG Xiang, Hui and more. The common people of China generalizes the different regional tastes as "South is sweet, north is salty; east is spicy and west is sour."

    As a global metropolitan, the historical capital city of Beijing has thousands of restaurants, with at least one hundred famous ones. These restaurants not only incorporate various Chinese regional food styles, but also Western taste s such as authentic French, Italian, Russian, Spanish and American foods; and other Asian cuisines including Japanese, Korean, Indian, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Thai and more. In recent years, with consumer spending power on the rise, Beijing is already marketing several distinguished food streets. And more and more 24-hour service restaurants are appearing. When it comes to timeless favorites of Beijing~ one cannot miss the Beijing (Peking) Roast Duck and Lamb Hotpot (fondue). A famous food house, Quanjude, roasts their ducks with open fire, while another well-known restaurant, Bianyifang, uses enclosed fires. Each of the two styles has its unique strong points. A glistening brown roast duck, its meat sliced, dipped into sweet noodle sauce, with the choice of some scallion threads, rolled into one soft, thin dough wrap.

The taste and feel of the duck wrap inside your mouth is the most satisfying. The Lamb Hotpot used to be a winter dish, but is now available anytime as most restaurants have air- conditioning equipped. Even in the seething summer heat, many people prefer it. Close friends and family sit around a round table having hotpot, and order a few plates of raw fresh lamb and veal slices. On top of that, add some seasonal greens and boil it all in a bubbling hotpot. When the meat is cooked, bring it out and enjoy with a variety of sauces including sesame oil dip, to hi with paste, flowers of Chinese chive, or hot pepper oil, and sprinkle with some minced scallion and Chinese parsley powder. When you have had enough meats, cook some super thin rice noodles. The rice noodles, after absorbing the broth from the pot, have excellent taste and texture. For some really unforgettable experience, have one or two small sesame seed cakes afterwards.

    Beijing's neighbor, Tianjin, is a famous port city. Its cuisines are also typical of the northern style. Its most famed food, the Dog-Won't-Eat Stuffed Buns, has the characteristics of thick-tasting brine (extract) and symmetrical wrinkles on the bun as a result of kneading the

Beautifully shaped soup-filled buns.

Yue cuisine from Guangdong is known for a whole array of ingredients and the creativity and uniqueness of its dishes.

Lotus roots are a specialty food item of China.

    Going a little further to the southeast, one would arrive in Shandong province. Due to the early development of its regional cuisine, the Lu style is one of the most influential and popular regional food styles in China. Shandong is home to the great philosopher Confucius, therefore, its food style is a true embodiment of Confucian teachings--"No such thing as too much refinement." It emphasizes purity of seasoning, and is salty and delicious; with main characteristics of natural flavoring, tender, fragrant and crispy. Commonly used Lu techniques exceed 30 in number; especially excellent are its quick-fried, stir-fried, roasted, and braised dishes. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, Lu cuisine is already the main component of imperial diet. The state banquet of the Qing Dynasty, Manchu-Han Full Banquet, uses all real silverware, and has a total of 196 courses that are all real delicacies; extravagant to the extreme.

As the top cooking style of northern China, Lu style cuisine is the blue print from which the basic dishes of high- class and festive banquets, and home cooking are developed. Not only this, the Lu style also heavily influenced the regional foods of Beijing, Tianjin and northeastern China. Worthy of mentioning is the Fushan area of the Jiaodong region, it is known throughout the world for its high development of culinary arts. There, famous chefs of all ages abound. Not only are its chefs armed with the most excellent cooking skills, even the "head chefs" in each household can make excellent fare. Overseas Chinese originally from Fushan have spread the Lu style to other places throughout the world. Shandong people are known for their warm hospitality. They are afraid to see honorable quests not being fully indulged with excellent taste, and with stomachs half-empty when meals are finished; so Shandong dishes come in very large servings. Those who visit Shandong must be ready to eat like they have never eaten before.

    A close neighbor of Shandong is Shanxi Province. Though the food in this province was never considered one of China's several main styles, it does not prevent the people here from enjoying exquisite tastes. The Shanxi people have a long tradition of being merchants, especially during the Ming and Qing dynasties when trading flourished. There emerged many wealthy merchants and made Shanxi the "richest place in the country." Therefore, if one just pays a bit more attention to Shanxi's menu, it is not difficult to find evidence that ultra-wealthy people used to live here. Just for noodles, there would be countless unique ways of preparation, each one being different from the other, and even as to have a grand feast with just noodles.

    West of Shanxi lies the province of Shaanxi. The provincial capital is the ancient city of Xi'an. Aside from housing the timeless terracotta warriors, the Great Wild Goose Pagoda and other historical sites, two things that can attract outsiders to Xi'an are none other than Soaked Buns in Mutton Soup and dumpling feasts. From large avenues to small streets, countless restaurants specialize in Soaked Buns in Mutton Soup. The customers would, with their own hands, tear the steamed buns into pieces, the smaller the pieces the better. Then hand the bowl of buns to the head chef inside the kitchen where he would drench the buns with delicious mutton soup before serving. Dumplings are the northern Chinese's traditional food. The dumpling feast of Xi'an consists of steamed, boiled, deep-fried and fried dumplings, with as many as 108 different varieties. The

A Yellow River Carp banquet from Henan Province.

Chongqing Mala Hotpot.

The Beijing Tan Family Dishes that attach great importance to color, smell, taste, shape and supplementary ingredients.

    Going even further west from Xi'an, at Yinchuan, people can enjoy authentic roast lamb's head; at Lanzhou, there's authentic Beef and Stretched Noodles; Xining has Lamb Innards Soup that should not be missed; and in 0riimuqi there are sticks after sticks of lamb kabobs waiting. From Xi'an to the north, deep into the grasslands of Inner Mongolia, one must have a taste of the roast whole lamb.

    From Xi'an to the south, one would arrive in "the Heavenly State"--Sichuan. Sichuan food is also an alterative regional style that has matured long ago. It poses great influence over all regions of China. When people think of Sichuan food, almost the only thing that comes to mind is the pungent and hot flavor. In actuality, Sichuan food pays great attention to flavor and seasoning, with tastes that one can see. From the seasoning, we see scallion, ginger, garlic, hot pepper, black pepper, star aniseed, vinegar, thick broad-bean sauce, fermented rice soup, sugar, salt and many more. As long as attentive efforts are made, Sichuan food can have as many as seven flavors, which are sour, sweet, bitter, pungent, mouth-numbing, fragrant and salty.

Most Sichuan dishes are popular home-style cooking, with characteristics of being simple and refreshing. Many people who have been to Sichuan say the great foods of Sichuan are countless, including home-style Yuxiang Pork (pork in fragrant spicy sauce), Twice-Cooked Pork, Bean Jelly in Chili Oil, Mapo To h~ (hot and spicy bean curd), Fu Qi Feipian (literally "married couple's slices of lung," made with spicy beef and beef lung/stomach/tongue slices) to street-side snacks including Fragrant Skewers, Numb-hot (mala) Rabbit Head and Noodles in Chili Oil (Dan Dan Noodle); plus the all-famous Chinese dish of Numb-hot (mala) Hotpot and Boiled Fish in Xhili Oil, all are foods that one can never get enough of.

    When it comes to hot flavors, all provinces and regions in western China have the tradition of eating hot foods. It is commonly perceived that hot foods have the effect of waning off cold and wetness. Hot peppers were introduced to China from the Americas at the end of the Ming Dynasty. In the beginning, it was only used as a decorative or medicinal crop. The first regions to eat hot peppers as food are Guizhou Province and its neighboring areas. At one time, hot peppers were used in place of salt as a seasoning. In the present day, not only Sichuan food is famed throughout the country for its hot and pungent flavor, those neighboring provinces including Shaanxi, Guizhou, Yunnan, Hubei; and south central provinces of Hunan, Jiangxi and Guangxi all have different styles of hot and spicy food; as each area has one other main feature together with pungency. Sichuan focuses on ma, or mouth-numbing taste; Guizhou focuses on fragrance; Yunnan focuses on taste of natural essence; Shaanxi focuses on saltiness; and Hunan focuses on sourness. In recent years, as regional foods make their way into large metropolitan cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou, regional styles including Hunan, Hubei, Guizhou, and Yunnan have met with acclaim from more and more eaters.

Fragrant Skewers in Chengdu.

    Xiang style, short for Hunan Food, is one of the eight main food styles of China, and has certain popularity on the international scene. Xiang food is known for having fine knife work, being heavy in oil and strong flavored. It mostly uses techniques such as boil, roast, and steam to make hot and sour; charred and mouth-numbing; fresh and fragrant; crispy and tender; smoked and cured; as well as dishes in many other flavors. Hubei food is famous for its refined and meticulous process. A single dish often has to go through more than a dozen steps in the making. Hubei food uses mainly aquatic products as its ingredient. Steamed food is Hubei's strong point.

It has the characteristics of thick broth, full and pure-flavored. Guizhou food is known for its many rare delicacies made with wild land animals as well as chicken, duck, pork, beef, vegetables and bean curd, with principal flavors of saltiness, pungency and fragrance. Integrating culinary techniques of local minority nationalities, Guizhou food has a very rustic twist to it. Famous dishes include Chicken in Dry Hotpot, Fish in Sour Soup, Huajiang Dog Meat and more. Yunnan is a province with high concentration of minority nationalities. Its food style is distinctively local. Different types of fungi are the regional specialties as the area is full of all types of edible wild fungi. Guangxi food excels in making wild animal and plant dishes, and focuses on natural and fresh flavors. It is influenced by Cantonese cuisines but is also into hot foods. There exist local minority nationality characteristics in Guangxi food. Being an area rich in the yield of precious Chinese medicine ingredients, Guangxi people artfully mix food and herbs together to make tonic meals as one of the specialties of the area.

    South of Shandong are Jiangsu, Shanghai, Zhejiang, Guangdong and other coastal provinces, which shun piquancy and prefer mild foods. In the province most devoted to food culture--Guangdong, Guangzhou food, representing the Yue style is nothing less than centuries old in development. Guangzhou is located at the delta of the Pearl River. It has convenient water routes in all directions thus has been the southern commercial center of China. In addition, Guangzhou is China's earliest port city to be opened to foreign trade. All kinds of traveling merchants from all parts of China brought with them their regional restaurants, with a multitude of tastes and styles. Aided further by rich local natural resources, fresh seafood and rare land animals are all possible dishes on the dining table.

In cooking, Guangzhou food takes the strong points of Western cuisines; making it the most extraordinary among Chinese cuisines, with characteristics of an extensive list of ingredients, fancy presentation and being nutrition-conscious. The Cantonese love to eat, and are health-conscious, famous for making seasonal soups and porridge. Fujian, which borders Guangdong, has a food style very different from its neighbor. With Fuzhou food as representative of the Fujian style, the mildly seasoned dishes use fresh ingredients, borderin

A well-known dish in China, the Dazha Crabs from Yangcheng Lake.

    The provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and the city of Shanghai, located on China's east coast, have always had close geographical relationships. Thus their food cultures pose reciprocal influence on one another. Due to the relatively short history of the city of Shanghai, its foods all originated from Ningbo, Yangzhou, Suzhou or Wuxi, even with influences from Sichuan. The real historical local specialties are the Yangzhou, Suzhou and Wuxi styles in the province of Jiangsu, as well as Ningbo and Hangzhou styles from the province of Zhejiang. The one characteristic of Yangzhou cuisine is that it strives to lock in the natural flavor and juices of the ingredient. So different dishes come in different flavors. Furthermore, Yangzhou's snack foods are famous near and far for its great variety. Suzhou, on the other hand, is a historical town deeply rooted in humanistic culture, being once the home to many of the famed literati and great talents. Suzhou cuisine's relentless pursuit for refinement is also well-known. It emphasizes skilled application of cutting, boiling, supplementary ingredients and seasonings, and most importantly the duration and degree of heating. Even a round of home meal would get the utmost attention to refinement, focusing on quality, not quantity, and tastes light and refreshing.

In recent years, the Dazha Crab from Yangcheng Lake, which started a dining craze all over the country, is also a native animal to Suzhou. Wuxi food has two distinct characters, "sweetness" and "stench." Almost all homes use crystal sugar powder, thus the sweet taste. For the "stench," Stinky Tofu is used. But the more odorous the bean curd, the better the flavor and aftertaste. As experienced eaters believe, Wuxi food is among the most excellent in both knife work and degree of heating. Ningbo food relies on the high production of local seafood as main ingredient, usually being a bit on the salty side. Hangzhou is another city with over one thousand years of history. Not only are its sceneries most enchanting, its fine foods are well worth mentioning. The people of Hangzhou are proud of the rate at which they overthrow the old-style cuisines and creating new tastes, which is record- breaking in China. Hangzhou food is also mild and refreshing, with next-to-nothing usage of pungent spices and thick sauces and oils. The only exceptions being the Dong Po Pork Leg and West Lake Sweet and Sour Fish, which are hailed as classic fare, with an lasting fragrance long after finished eating.

Salt-Preserved Flat Ducks.

    People cannot help but be reminded of Anhui food, which took the country by storm one hundred years ago. It is said that the Anhui-style restaurants at the time were all very large in scale, with full redwood interior showing an air of wealth and loftiness. But in the modem race of restaurants in the food service industry, Anhui food faded away from the spotlight. If it were not for tours to the Huangshan Mountains, outsiders can hardly ever get a taste of authentic Anhui food.

    All around the country, from snacks to full feasts, China has an uncountable list of great cuisines in each and every region. Exotic fare in all forms and flavors project the splendor of a long tradition of food culture, with the vivid local culture of the regions for the respective cuisine styles. To taste all of China's foods is not only a long and luxurious journey, but makes one constantly aware of the greatness of Chinese food culture traditions. As for foreign tourists in China, regardless of having grand banquets in restaurants or a taste of street-side snacks, they are all direct and pleasurable way of experiencing China.