Dumpling Banquet (jiaozi yanhui) – a northern specialty with innumerable elaborate stuffed parcels, generally served in fine surroundings.
Fish-flavored Pork (yuxiang rousi) – a spicy Szechuanese dish with sauce that supposedly imitates the taste of fish.
Gongbao Chicken (gongbao jiding) – this dish of diced chicken, peanuts (or cashews), chilies and flower peppers is at its hottest and best in Szechuan, but you'll find versions of it in restaurants throughout the country.
Hotpot (huoguo) – a bowl of bubbling broth (sometimes divided into a spicy half and a vegetable stock half, known as yuan-yuang huoguo) into which you dip wafer-thin strips of meat and assorted vegetables. This is my favorite meal to eat in a group and is popular throughout the country, particularly in Chongqing and Szechuan.
Stretched Noodles (lamian) – this Hui (Muslim) dish is usually prepared with beef, chili, coriander and leek or spring onion and is to be enjoyed as much for its preparation as its consumption. The noodles are made by continually stretching the dough between the fingers with a wide sweeping motion of the arms. Seconds later the noodles will be dropped in to cook and just a few minutes after that you'll be tucking into them. Around the country you'll find clean, simple canteens offering a hearty bowl of beef stretched noodle soup for under a dollar, which can't be beat on a cold winter's day.
Sweet and Sour Fish (tangcu yu) – the contrast between the two elemental flavors of this Cantonese dish has made it popular around the world, but you need to try it in southern China to experience the real deal.
Yangshuo Beer Fish (yangshuo pijiu yu) – the specialty dish of this rural region, Beer Fish lives up to its name and is cooked in the local brew, Liquan, until it is so succulent it falls off the bone.
Where to Eat
China has a mind-boggling array of eating options, many of them ridiculously cheap. If you're on a budget, there are tiny canteens where you can eat for under a dollar, but for not a lot more there are private dining rooms and regional specialties just waiting. Dining in China is a social affair and, if you're traveling in a group or on business, you may find yourself in a lavish Chinese banquet hall. Conversely, for the single traveler, restaurants offer a hurdle; Chinese food is designed to be eaten by groups sharing a number of different dishes that offer a wide variety of tastes and textures. On your own you'll only be able to manage one of these dishes and thus part of the essence of eating in China is lost – indeed, sitting by yourself with your one dish in a restaurant surrounded by noisy groups, you may feel even more out of place than usual. However, there is some salvation for the single traveler – canteens and street vendors offer meals for one and, although choices are more limited, it's generally cheap and tasty fare and you won't be the only one dining alone. Bear in mind that people eat early in China; breakfast is from 6-9 am, lunch from 11 am-2 pm and dinner from 5-9 pm. After that you may have to hunt out a street stall or fast food joint.
Canteens
Every town in China has plenty of these small, cheap, hole-in-the-wall, places whose appearance often belies the excellent fare sold within. From Muslim-owned beef or mutton noodle ventures to hotpot and dumpling joints, canteens usually specialize in just a few tasty dishes and will also offer drinks, chopsticks and napkins, but not much else.
Restaurants
Restaurants range from lavish affairs (often in upscale hotels) to smaller family businesses. Traditionally they have three floors, the bottom of which may be more akin to a canteen, the middle a standard restaurant and the top housing private dining rooms (for which you may have to pay a supplement). These days private rooms often come complete with KTV equipment, should you want to sing for your supper! Tables are usually circular, with a Lazy Susan (rotating turntable) in the center of the table to liven things up! Staff tend to be neatly dressed in matching uniforms and will make sure that your glass or teacup never runs dry.
Markets & Streetfood
China's streets and markets are alive with food vendors night and day and, if you're on a budget, in a hurry or traveling alone, streetfood is the way to go. What you find varies from region to region but you're sure to come across excellent barbecued mutton skewers (usually sold by Muslims from the northwest), boiled or roast corn on the cob (the latter is often chilied), noodles, dumplings and steamed buns, along with a host of other choices. Street vendors often have a few chairs and tables and may sell beer, while more elaborate set-ups in nightmarkets can resemble outdoor restaurants with all the food on display. In touristy areas always ask the price before ordering, as even though it still won't add up to much, some places will inflate prices enormously for foreigners.
Food is so cheap in China that cooking for yourself is rarely worthwhile as a traveler, but if you are here for longer, want a change or would like to stock up for a long journey, markets are packed with choices as well as great places to check out local life. Not so long ago, local produce would be all that was available, but these days you'll find tropical fruit for sale in Beijing's markets, even in winter.
Western Food
While China is a culinary adventure, every now and then Western food can bring a welcome shot of familiarity; just don't expect it to be exactly the way it is back home. Dairy products used to be very difficult to track down (outside of western and northwestern China), but in this time of the single child policy all parents want their kid to grow up big and strong, and calcium, hence milk, cheese and yogurt, are increasingly available, although you may still struggle in smaller towns and rural areas. Breakfast is a meal where many foreigners find Chinese food the hardest to stomach; congee (rice porridge) or noodles just don't cut it for everyone at 7 am and, though mid-range hotels may have some kind of Western fare included in their breakfast spread, the orange juice is likely to be warmed and toast and eggs may be the best you get. International chain hotels tend to offer a far better spread. For those on a budget, help is at hand in the form of a common Chinese dish that makes for an excellent Western-style breakfast – scrambled eggs and tomato (xihongshi chaodan).
Fast Food
When you need a Western fix, China has an ever-increasing array of options, the dominant flagships of which are predictably KFC, McDonalds and Pizza Hut, although there are domestic burger chains too, notably Dicos. Coffee shops like Coffee Language, UBC Coffee and Starbucks are also a recent phenomenon sweeping the cities, and, in addition to a good choice of drinks, they often serve reasonable Western fare such as pizzas, sandwiches and steaks. Similar items can be found at backpacker cafés (notably in Yangshuo in Guangxi) and Western-style pubs that have emerged in the bigger cities. Larger hotel restaurants may also have some Western options on their menus.
Vegetarian Options
Being a vegetarian in China sounds easy enough, given the sheer number of vegetable dishes in the country's cuisine and its Buddhist history, along with the imitation meat dishes made from tofu popularized since the Qing dynasty. However, it really depends on how strict you are in your definition of vegetarian, since many of these vegetable dishes will have involved meat somewhere along the way, be it in the sauce, the fat, or the small pieces of pork or shrimp you find in your "fried cabbage”! Telling your waiter that you don't eat meat ("wo bu chi rou”) might help, but, to be clearer, say you're a Buddhist ("wo shi fojiao tu”), who generally abstain from meat. Aside from the small number of purely vegetarian and Indian restaurants found in the biggest cities, the only way to be certain is to eat at one of the Buddhist dining halls in temples and monasteries throughout the country, although the food can be a little bland due to the lack of garlic, ginger and onion, which are considered too "stimulating.”