Chinese food
Regional cuisines differ more than most first-time visitors expect — Sichuan, Cantonese and northern cooking are distinct traditions. Start with the cuisine guides and the street-food safety basics.
Chinese regional cuisines differ from each other more than Italian does from Spanish — Sichuan's numbing spice, Cantonese restraint, the wheat-and-lamb north. Restaurant culture is also different: dishes are shared, rice is a given, and menus without photos are normal.
Street food is safer than its reputation if you follow two rules: high turnover and cooked-to-order. The guides below cover the cuisines worth planning a route around, the dishes to order first, and how to eat confidently without Mandarin.
China food guide
Cantonese cuisine
China Cantonese Cuisine for 2026 — what to order, where to go, the etiquette foreign travelers need, and the regional variations across China.
Sichuan spice
Understanding Sichuan spice in 2026: má vs. là, the classic dishes and their prices, spice-level vocabulary, and how to order heat you can survive.
Hotpot guide
China's four hotpot schools — copper-pot mutton, Sichuan beef tallow, Cantonese da-bin-lou, Chaoshan beef — dips, blanch seconds, CNY 60–200 per person.
Street food safety
How to eat street food in China without regret in 2026: choosing busy stalls, ordering safe bets, water and ice rules, and handling a bad stomach.
Noodle regions
China's noodle map for 2026: Lanzhou beef noodles, Shanxi knife-cut, Wuhan hot-dry, Suzhou simmered and more — what to order, prices, and local rules.