Chinese cuisine is rich and varied in taste and appearance. It requires that dishes should be attractive in color, vivid in shape and appealing in taste. Stemming from a wide range of regional tastes, minority ethnic groups, royal court dish, feudal official dish, temple food and local special dishes, Chinese cuisine has distinctive flavor which enjoys an international reputation. The multiple regions and cultures within China only add to the richness of the nation's food.

Compared to royal court dish, feudal official dish and temple food, regional dishes are the main part of Chinese cuisine. Chinese regional dishes can be classified into four major categories, namely,

Shandong (Lu) cuisine, Szechuan (Chuan) cuisine, Guangdong (Yue) cuisine and Jiangsu (Su) cuisine.

Cuisine Lu mainly refers to Shandong cuisine, also known as northern dish, which include the delicacies of Beijing, Tianjin and the northern part of China.

Beijing Duck

Cuisine Chuan refers to dishes in the southwest part of China, of which dishes in Chengdu, Chongqing and South Chuan are representatives. Cuisine Chuan is famous for its spicy, tingling, and strong tastes.

Cuisine Su, also known as Cuisine Huaiyang, refers to dishes in the southeast part of China.

Mapo Tofu

Cuisine Yue, also known as Canton Cuisine, has the feature of delicate but tasty, fresh but free from vulgar, tender but not crude, and greasy but not fat. Cuisine Yue has strong seasonal character, light in summer and autumn, while rich in winter and spring. Most Chinese restaurants abroad are Yue restaurants.