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EATING IN BEIJING: A GUIDE TO CHINA’S REGIONAL CUISINES |
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 Chinese food has a sophistication and regional diversity that, in many parts of the world, has been reduced to a generic common denominator: think General Tso’s Chicken, Hunan Pork or other similar deep fried/stir fried dishes with salty brown sauce. While there are officially 8 Great Regional Cuisines of China, in reality China’s culinary palette is an even more complex kaleidoscope of subtleties in tastes, flavors, ingredients and spices, with variations from every province, city and region.
Our Regional Food Guide introduces you to different types of cuisines or typical foods from around China that can be found in Beijing (mouse over Regional Food in the main menu above to select a category). The introduction to each type of cuisine or food describes broadly the key cooking style or methods, important ingredients and spices, and in the case of Peking Duck, how to eat and evaluate your duck. Next, we give examples of Representative Dishes of the region or category which you might want to sample in restaurants, with lots of photos so you can feast your eyes. Each section closes with Where to find it?, or a list of links to Savour Asia's Beijing Restaurant Recommendations for that category, with additional great or interesting dishes (including phots) that we recommend you try at those restaurants. As much as possible, our restaurant and food recommendations are given in English, Chinese characters and pinyin.
Recognizing that true connoisseurship of even one of China’s regional cuisines is impossible within one lifetime, we humbly present to you the initial findings from our ongoing tasting mission.
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