The cuisine of eastern China tends to revolve around Shanghai and the surrounding provinces of Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Anhui and Jiangsu. Although Shanghai cuisine is often spoken of, it's hard to define because its derived from the areas surrounding Shanghai.The fertile plains of the Yangtze River offer a rich variety of fish and produce. The style of cooking tends to be lighter than in the west and north. Relatively refined soups, braised and stir-fired dishes flavored with ginger,dark soy sauce, Shaoxing Wine and rice vinegar are balanced by using sugar.Look for" red-stewed" foods especially red-stewed pork, a speciality of the region.

Seafood and fish are important components in eastern region cuisine.Try shrimp cooked with tea leaves and garnished with vinegar,frog stewed with mushrooms, clams stir-fired with scallions, or crab coated with salted egg yolk and deep fried.Streamed freshwater hairy crab from Yangcheng Lake is a much sought after speciality that's in peak season in October and November.The rich, creamy and intensely flavored roe of the crab is the most luxurious part,though be prepared to get your hands messy to extract the meat.

A must try is the Shanghai steamed dumplings served with vinegar for dipping. Often found in street market food stalls as well as in restaurants.This Shanghai standard is sometimes elevated to luxury status with the addition of crabmeat or hairy crab roe.

Ten Representative Eastern Dishes 

Beggar's chicken: traditionally a whole chicken flavored with Shaoxin Wine, is first wrapped in lotus leaves then with clay and cooked in a fire.

Dongpo pork: a red- stewed, braised pork dish, usually cooked in an earthenware vessel, is named after distinguished poet Su Dongpo of the 11th century, succulent and rich.

Dragon Well Tea prawns: prawns cooked with fresh Dragon Well tea leaves, a speciality in the Hangzhou region.

Hot and sour soup: deliciously spicy with a tinge of vinegar, this soup is full of sliver of meat, tofu, bamboo shoots and egg.

Lion's head meatball: these meatballs are said to resemble a" lion's head" accompanied by a " mane" of bok choy, made with pork, deep fired and braised in a rich brown sauce.

Red - stewed pork: braised pork leg dish made with Shaoxing rice wine, dark say sauce, five- spice powder and rock sugar.

Sweet and sour pork: deliciously deep fired pieces of pork are drenched in a sweet and sour sauce with chunks of pineapples.

West Lake beef soup: this famous soup is named after West Lake of Hangzhou made with beef, peas and eggs.

West Lake poached fish: originally from Hangzhou, the fish is first marinated with ginger, soy sauce, sugar and black vinegar, poached whole then sauce with the marinade.

Yangzhou fired rice: this well-known fired rice dish uses shrimp, peasant and scrambled eggs. It is distinctly flavored with chicken stock, Shaoxing wine, thin soy sauce and sesame oil.