China's cuisine has evolved into one of the great cuisine of the world.For more than 5,000 years, food has played as auspicious role in nearly all aspects of Chinese society from health and medicine to business and celebration and it is no less important today.The overall importance of food in China cannot be understated;upon greeting, Westerners will inquire about your health,the Chinese will ask if you've eaten.

Emphasis on the freshness,flavor and texture of ingredients is key to fine Chinese cooking.To get the most out of even simple ingredients,a variety of techniques is used to highlight and accent food qualities.Quick cooking with a wok and deep-frying are universal to most styles of cooking in China.You'll also find other cooking methods such as steaming,roasting,barbecueing,stewing and braising used extensively.

Many of the coastal and border regions of China have adopted outside influences into their cuisine. In general the farther south you travel the more tropical the weather, affording better growing conditions and the lighter and more refined the food tends to be. With harsh winters and short growing conditions, northern and western regions tend to offer much heartier cuisine. Traders, missionaries and invading peoples have all had their persuasion in how gastronomy has evolved in various regions. New world foods such as tomatoes and corn are now common ingredients throughout China, in Hongkong you'll find the use of mayonnaise and chilies have directly influenced an entire genre of food from Sichuan. In ancient times and even today, those living in the remote areas didn't travel extensively and there have been few outside influences from other cultures.

Of all the Chinese dishes, Sichuan dishes, Guangdong dishes, Shandong dishes, Jiangsu dishes, Zhejiang dishes, Fujian dishes, Anhui dishes, and Hunan dishes, are commonly accepted as the “Eight Famous Styles of Chinese Cuisines” in China with their own unique tastes.

1. Sichuan Cuisines (or Chuan Cuisines)
Features: spicy and hot, sour and hot
Classic Dishes: shredded pork with garlic sauce, stewed beancurd with minced pork in pepper sauce, saute chicken cubes with chilli and peanuts, duck smoked with tea leaves, etc.

2. Guangdong Cuisines (or Yue Cuisines)
Features: fresh, delicate, nutrient
Classic Dishes: braised snake and leopard cat, roasted crispy sucking pig, sweet and sour pork, Dalong fried fresh milk, Chaozhou stewed abalone and shark's fins, fried beef Fillet with oyster sauce, whole winter melon soup, boiled Wenchang chicken with sauce, etc.

3. Shandong Cuisines (or Lu Cuisines)
Features: paying attention to the choosing of materials and cutting skills, usually seasoning with shallot and ginger
Classic Dishes: sweet and sour fish, fried pork joint, fried mutton slice with scallion, fried trepang with scallion, fried bean-curd, braised whelk with brown sauce, fried oyster, etc.

4. Jiangsu Cuisines (or Su Cuisines)
Features: fine cooking skill, different cooking methods for different dishes, thick and elegant taste, exquisite sculpts for dishes
Classic Dishes: baked side pork, Huai’an braised meatballs, roast chicken wrapped by lotus-leaves and clay, sweet and sour mandarin fish, braised finless eel, boiled salted duck, etc.

5. Zhejiang Cuisines (or Zhe Cuisines)
Features: stressing on cutting skills, various dish sculpts, full of rustic flavor
Classical Dishes: West Lake fish in vinegar gravy, stir fried prawn with Longjing Tea, fried stuffed bean curd paste, stewed spring bamboo shoots, West Lake watershield soup, etc.

6. Fujian Cuisines (or Min Cuisines)
Features: exquisite cooking, artistic shape, fresh taste and color
Classical Dishes: Buddha skipping wall (sea food and poultry), steamed Taichi prawn, seasoned fried peanuts, duck in rice wine sauce, snowflake chicken, etc.

7. Anhui cuisines (or Hui Cuisines)
Features: oily, famous for choosing wild vegetables and animals as cooking materials, skilled in roasting, stewing, steaming.
Classical Dishes: braised masked civet, steamed turtle with ham, stewed honeycomb-like bean-curd, Wuwei smoked duck, etc.

8. Hunan Cuisines (Xiang Cuisines)
Features: spicy and sour, with steamed, fried and smoked food as the favorite.
Classical Dishes: spicy and hot chicken, steamed multiple preserved hams, Andong chicken, Dongting wild chicken, sweet semen nelumbinis soup, etc.