"The Chinese love to eat, and from market-stall buns and soup, right through to the intricate variations of regional cookery, China boasts one of the world's greatest cuisines. It's also far more complex than you might suspect from its manifestations overseas, and while food might not initially be a major reason for your trip, once here you may well find that eating becomes the highlight. However, the inability to order effectively sees many travellers missing out, and they leave desperate for a ""proper meal"", convinced that the bland stir-fries and dumplings served up in the cheapest canteens is all that's available. With a bit of effort you can eat well whatever your budget and ability with the language, though it can be monotonous eating solo for any length of time - meals are considered social events, and the process is accordingly geared to a group of diners sharing a variety of different dishes with their companions.
Though fresh ingredients are available from any market stall, there are very few opportunities to cook for yourself in China, and most of the time eating out is much more convenient and interesting. The principles of Chinese cooking are based on a desire for a healthy harmony between the qualities of different ingredients. For the Chinese, this extends right down to considering the yin and yang attributes of various dishes - for instance, whether food is ""moist"" or ""dry"" - but can also be appreciated in the use of ingredients with contrasting textures and colour, designed to please the eye as well as the palate. Recipes and ingredients themselves, however, are generally a response to more direct requirements. The chronic poverty of China's population is reflected in the generally scant quantity of meat used, while the need to preserve precious stocks of firewood led to the invention of quick cooking techniques, such as slicing ingredients into tiny shreds and stir-frying them. The reliance on eating whatever was immediately to hand also saw a readiness to experiment with anything edible; so, though you'd hardly come across them every day, items such as bear's paw, shark's fin, fish lips and even jellyfish all appear in Chinese cuisine.
Ingredients and methods
The after-effects of Maoist policies meant that as late as the 1980s the availability of good ingredients in China was pretty poor, leading to a miserably low standard of food served outside the highest-class hotels and restaurants. Now, in...
Vegetarian food
Vegetarianism has been practised for almost two thousand years in China for both religious and philosophical reasons, and its practitioners have included historical figures such as Cao Cao, the famous Three Kingdoms' warlord, and the pious...
Regional cooking
Not surprisingly, given China's scale, there are a number of distinct regional cooking styles divided into four major traditions. Northern cookery was epitomized by the imperial court and so also became known as Mandarin or Beijing...
Breakfast, snacks and fast foods
Breakfast is not a big event by Chinese standards, more something to line the stomach for a few hours. Much of the country is content with a bowl of zhou (rice porridge) or sweetened soya milk, flavoured with pickles and accompanied by a...
Western and international food
There's a fair amount of Western and international food available in China, though supply and quality varies from place to place. Hong Kong has the best range, with some excellent restaurants covering everything from French to Vietnamese...
Opening times and places to eat
While small noodle shops and foodstalls around train and bus stations have flexible hours, always keep an eye on restaurant opening times , which, even in the biggest cities, tend to be early and short. By 6am breakfast is usually...
Ordering and eating
In itself, getting fed is never difficult as everyone wants your custom. Walk past anywhere that sells cooked food and you'll be hailed by cries of chi fan - basically, ""come and eat!"" Pointing is all that's required at...
Tea
Tea was introduced into China from India around 1800 years ago, and was originally drunk for medicinal reasons. Although its health properties are still important, and some food halls sell nourishing or stimulating varieties by the bowlful, over the...
Alcohol
The popularity of beer - pijiu - in China rivals that of tea, and, for men, is the preferred mealtime beverage (drinking alcohol in public is considered improper for Chinese women, though not for foreigners). The first brewery was...
Soft drinks
Water is easily available in China, though it's best not to drink what comes out of the tap. Boiled water is always on hand in hotels and trains, either provided in large vacuum flasks or an urn, and you can buy bottled springĄ"
|
China Vacations 