Beijing roast duck, Sichuan hot pot, barbecue skewers, xiaolongbao and zhajiangmian

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Understand signature dishes, ingredients and ordering choices before deciding what belongs on your table.

Meet China one dish at a time

Follow local flavors from city to city and discover the dishes, traditions and everyday moments worth tasting for yourself.

47 food guides

Whole roast duck, sliced duck, pancakes, cucumber and scallions

Beijing

Peking Duck

A Peking duck meal moves from crisp skin and sliced meat to pancakes, several traditional accompaniments and, if requested, a final dish made from the carcass. It is a shared meal with more variation than one plate of roast duck suggests.

Beijing

Zhajiang Noodles

Beijing zhajiang noodles combine wheat noodles, a concentrated diced-pork soybean paste and crisp seasonal vegetables. Noodle temperature and the amount of sauce change the bowl as much as the toppings do.

Copper hot pot with thinly sliced lamb and vegetables

Beijing

Beijing-Style Lamb Hot Pot

Beijing lamb hot pot cooks thin slices of lamb quickly in a clear copper pot, then pairs them with sesame-based dipping sauce. Cut, body part and timing stay visible because the broth is deliberately restrained.

A bowl of douzhi with fried jiaoquan rings and pickles

Beijing

Douzhi with Jiaoquan

Douzhi is the fermented liquid left from processing mung beans for starch. Its direct sour aroma is traditionally balanced by crisp fried jiaoquan rings and salty, lightly spicy pickles.

Beijing

Chao Gan

Chao gan is a thick garlic-scented breakfast stew of soft pork liver and springy pork intestine. Its old name says “fried liver”, but the bowl, texture and pairing with steamed buns tell a different story.

Beijing

Luzhu Huoshao

Luzhu huoshao simmers flatbread, fried tofu, pork intestine and pork lung in a dark aromatic broth. Each component absorbs the liquid differently, while garlic, coriander and chilli add the final layers.

Beijing

Candied Hawthorn Skewers

Traditional tanghulu balances the sharp acidity of hawthorn with a thin, brittle sugar shell. Cold winter air keeps the coating crisp; fillings and newer fruit versions change both texture and storage needs.

Beijing

Jianbing

Jianbing is spread and folded to order in under a minute, layering egg, sauce, herbs and a crisp cracker over a thin griddled batter. The first few minutes preserve the contrast between hot wrapper and brittle centre.

Chengdu

Chengdu Hot Pot

Chengdu hot pot is a shared meal built around a constantly changing simmering pot. Beef-tallow broth carries chilli and Sichuan-pepper heat, while tripe, duck intestine, aorta, pork brain, tofu, and vegetables give the meal its changing rhythm and textures.

Chengdu

Chengdu Chuanchuanxiang

Chuanchuanxiang turns hot-pot ingredients into one- or two-bite skewers, making selection, cooking, sharing, and billing flexible. Beef wrapped around coriander, pickled chilli, or fish mint joins tripe, aorta, gizzard, tofu, roots, and greens around the same bubbling pot.

Tender tofu and crisp minced beef coated in glossy red mapo sauce

Chengdu

Chengdu Mapo Tofu

Mapo tofu combines tender cubes of tofu with crisp minced beef, Pixian broad-bean paste, fermented black beans, chilli, and Sichuan pepper. Repeated light thickening keeps the glossy sauce attached, producing heat, numbness, tenderness, savoury depth, and a crisp meat contrast in one spoonful.

Fine dandan noodles topped with minced pork, preserved vegetable, and chilli oil

Chengdu

Chengdu Dandan Noodles

Dandan noodles retain the small bowl and quick mixing style of the shoulder-pole street stalls that gave them their name. Fine noodles sit over chilli oil, soy, pepper, and a little stock, topped with crisp minced pork and fermented yacai before everything is mixed together.

Small Zhong dumplings coated in chilli oil and aromatic sweet soy sauce

Chengdu

Chengdu Zhong Dumplings

Zhong dumplings use thin skins and a smooth all-pork filling, dressed with chilli oil, garlic, and aromatic sweet soy sauce for a sweet-savoury-spicy finish. The snack began in late nineteenth-century Chengdu and also has a lighter clear-soup form.

Thick sweet-water noodles mixed with chilli oil, aromatic soy, garlic, and peanuts

Chengdu

Chengdu Sweet Water Noodles

Sweet-water noodles use strands nearly as thick as chopsticks to carry aromatic sweet soy, chilli oil, Sichuan pepper, garlic, and crushed peanuts. Their chew is as distinctive as their flavour: sweetness returns after savoury, spicy, and numbing notes.

Chengdu

Bobo Chicken Skewers

Originating in Leshan and widely eaten in Chengdu, bobo chicken cools cooked chicken, offal, beef, and vegetables before soaking the skewers in red-oil sesame or green-pepper dressing. The earthenware bowl is both serving vessel and space for flavour to penetrate.

Whole rabbit head coated in red oil, Sichuan pepper, and sesame

Chengdu

Spicy Rabbit Head

Spicy rabbit head is braised whole and finished with red chilli and peppercorn or a five-spice seasoning. Cheek, tongue, palate, and brain each have a different texture, and working carefully around the bones makes it one of Chengdu's most recognisable braised snacks.

Transparent ice jelly topped with brown sugar syrup, fruit, and nuts

Chengdu

Chengdu Ice Jelly

Ice jelly is a soft, transparent southwestern dessert. Traditional hand-rubbed versions release gel from ice-jelly seeds, while brown sugar provides the base aroma; fermented rice, glutinous rice cake, fruit, hawthorn, nuts, and small dumplings can turn it into a richly textured bowl.

Chongqing

Chongqing Hot Pot

Chongqing hot pot grew from the offal dishes of the city's river wharves. Beef-tallow broth carries chilli heat and Sichuan-pepper numbness, while a nine-grid pot helps a shared table keep tripe, duck intestine, meat and vegetables moving at different speeds.

Red-oil noodles topped with greens, peanuts and scallion

Chongqing

Chongqing Noodles

The noodles may look simple, but the bowl begins with a complex base of chilli oil, Sichuan pepper, ginger, garlic, preserved vegetables and peanuts. Plain xiaomian and versions topped with peas, minced pork, beef or intestine all belong to the same everyday Chongqing tradition.

Sweet potato noodles in red broth with peanuts, preserved vegetables and scallion

Chongqing

Hot and Sour Sweet Potato Noodles

Springy sweet potato noodles carry vinegar, chilli oil and Sichuan pepper, with peanuts, fried soybeans and preserved vegetables adding crunch. The result is bright, hot, numbing and textured rather than simply sour soup.

Small golden chicken pieces among dried chillies and Sichuan pepper

Chongqing

Geleshan Spicy Chicken

Geleshan spicy chicken uses small bone-in pieces marinated, fried crisp and tossed with a striking quantity of dried chilli and Sichuan pepper. Searching through the red chillies for fragrant chicken is part of this shared Chongqing dish.

Duck blood, tripe, luncheon meat and vegetables in red chilli broth

Chongqing

Mao Xue Wang

Mao xue wang gathers silky duck blood, crisp tripe and huanghou, soft luncheon meat and vegetables in one basin of red broth. It is one of Ciqikou's traditional foods and arrives fully cooked as a generous shared dish.

Hot douhua served with rice and a red chilli dipping sauce

Chongqing

Douhua with Rice

Chongqing douhua rice pairs warm, delicate bean curd with rice and an aromatic chilli dip. The mild bean flavour, hot sauce and plain rice make a complete everyday meal that can expand with homestyle pork and vegetable dishes.

Pig brain in a small bowl under chilli oil, garlic and scallion

Chongqing

Roasted Pig Brain

Roasted pig brain is cooked in a small bowl or foil container with chilli oil, garlic and herbs. Its sauce is forceful, while the centre is as delicate as very soft custard—a spoonable shared plate on Chongqing's late-night barbecue tables.

Golden fried ciba coated with soybean powder and brown sugar syrup

Chongqing

Brown Sugar Ciba

Steamed glutinous rice is pounded until elastic, shaped and fried to form a thin golden crust around a chewy centre. Toasted soybean powder and brown sugar syrup turn it into a warm sweet finish after Chongqing's spicy dishes.

Thick cubes of glossy Dongpo pork arranged in a blue-and-white casserole

Hangzhou

Hangzhou Dongpo Pork

Hangzhou Dongpo pork turns a thick, tied cube of skin-on pork belly into three distinct textures through slow braising and a second steaming. Shaoxing wine, soy sauce and sugar build its rounded sweet-savoury aroma, while the dish carries layers of memory linking Su Shi, the restoration of West Lake and later Hangzhou cooking.

Pale stir-fried shrimp mixed with green Longjing tea leaves on a white plate

Hangzhou

Longjing Shrimp

Peeled shrimp are lightly coated and quickly stir-fried with brewed Longjing tea and tender leaves. Pale colour, springy seafood and a restrained roasted-bean tea fragrance define this precise Hangzhou dish.

A whole fish cut into serving sections and covered with dark vinegar sauce beside West Lake

Hangzhou

West Lake Fish in Vinegar Sauce

A whole grass carp is scored, gently cooked, and covered with a hot sauce of rose rice vinegar, sugar, Shaoxing wine, and ginger. Soft freshwater fish and a vivid rounded sweet-sour aroma meet in one classic Hangzhou dish.

Hangzhou

Pian'erchuan Noodles

Preserved mustard greens, seasonal bamboo-shoot slices, and pork are stir-fried before joining noodles and broth. Fermented savouriness, crisp shoots, and meat fragrance make pian'erchuan an everyday Hangzhou bowl.

Hangzhou

Cong Bao Hui

A thin pancake wraps youtiao and scallions, then turns repeatedly under a griddle press until crisp outside and airy within. Sweet bean sauce and chilli sauce give each stall its own final balance.

Pink, red, green and purple moulded dingsheng cakes, with one broken open to show its filling

Hangzhou

Dingsheng Rice Cake

Moistened glutinous- and non-glutinous rice flours are moulded and steamed around a sweet filling. A loose, tender crumb, hidden red bean centre, pale red colour, and auspicious shapes make dingsheng cake both a snack and a good wish.

A baked shell cracked open to reveal a whole chicken wrapped in lotus leaves

Hangzhou

Hangzhou Beggar's Chicken

A seasoned whole chicken and aromatic filling are enclosed in lotus leaves and an outer shell for a long sealed bake. Opening the parcel releases concentrated steam, chicken juices, and a warm leaf fragrance.

Large head-on prawns coated in a glossy dark sauce on a white plate

Hangzhou

Laotouer-Style Quick-Fried Prawns

Large head-on prawns are flash-fried until their shells turn aromatic, then rapidly coated in a glossy sweet-savoury vinegar sauce. The signature dish also preserves the story of a modern Hangzhou family restaurant.

Hangzhou

Hangzhou Soy-Cured Duck

A whole duck is salted, soaked in seasoned soy, air-dried, steamed with Shaoxing wine and aromatics, cooled, and chopped. Dark elastic skin, firm meat, and a gently sweet soy aroma carry Hangzhou's winter curing tradition.

Shanghai

Shanghai Xiaolongbao (Soup Dumplings)

Thin wrappers hold pork and piping-hot broth. Move one to a spoon, open a small hole and let the steam escape before drinking the soup.

Soy-dark scallion oil noodles topped with fried scallions and dried shrimp

Shanghai

Shanghai Scallion Oil Noodles

Fine noodles meet fried scallion oil and soy sauce. Dried shrimp can add another layer of savouriness to the deep, toasted scallion aroma.

Shanghai

Shanghai-Style Red-Braised Pork Belly

Skin-on pork belly cooks slowly with soy sauce, sugar and Shaoxing wine. The sweet-savoury sauce works best shared with rice and greens.

Crab meat, roe and paste arranged beside noodles, with a cooked crab and soup behind

Shanghai

Shanghai Crab Roe Noodles

Picked crab meat, roe or paste becomes a rich noodle topping. Similar menu names can refer to different mixtures and prices.

Shenzhen

Guangming Squab

Guangming squab is gently cooked in a spiced master stock, then briefly basted or fried in hot oil. The skin arrives thin and crisp, the meat tender and juicy, with the breast, leg, wing and meat near the bone each offering a different texture.

Cooked oysters on the half shell topped with garlic, red chilli and scallions

Shenzhen

Shajing Oysters

Shajing oysters are plump and tender, with saline freshness, a slight sweetness and a mineral finish. Steaming preserves their juices, crisp-frying creates a crunchy shell around a soft centre, and drying concentrates them into golden oysters or oyster jerky.

Shenzhen

Gongming Roast Goose

Gongming roast goose combines glossy crisp skin, thick meat, rich rendered fat and a deep aroma near the bone. It is chopped bone-in and eaten with its juices or plum sauce—a different table experience from the thin slices, pancakes and sweet bean sauce of Peking duck.

Separate golden grains of fried rice topped with orange sea urchin and seaweed

Shenzhen

Nan'ao Sea Urchin Fried Rice

Nan'ao sea urchin fried rice works sea urchin and egg yolk through the rice before a high-heat finish adds wok aroma. The grains are golden, savoury and separate, while some restaurants reserve extra sea urchin or seaweed for the top.

Pink lychee-shaped pastries displayed beside individual wrappers

Shenzhen

Lychee Pastry

Lychee pastry wraps a lychee-and-pineapple fruit filling in flaky Cantonese layers. Butter and toasted pastry arrive first, followed by sweet-tart fruit and a little fibre; the pink lychee shape and individual wrapping make it a recognisable contemporary Shenzhen gift.

Zhangjiajie

Zhangjiajie Sanxiaguo

Sanxiaguo brings cured pork, pork stomach, intestine, tofu or radish together in one pot. The dry-pot version concentrates chilli, smoke and rich meat juices, while the soup version is gentler. For a first taste, order the house dry pot mild and add rice.

Cold noodles topped with sliced pig ear, kelp, pickles and coriander

Zhangjiajie

Zhunao Ke Cold Noodles

Tomato dressing and pickled garnishes give these noodles an appetising tang; chilli oil, garlic water and litsea oil add fragrance, while sliced pig ear supplies a crisp, resilient bite. For the classic combination, order cold noodles with pig ear and extra tomato dressing.

Round green haozi baba rice cakes arranged in a bamboo steamer

Zhangjiajie

Haozi Baba Mugwort Rice Cakes

Haozi leaves lend these rice cakes a fresh herbal aroma and faint bitterness, while cured pork gives savoury versions a smoky richness. Steaming keeps the centre soft and sticky; pan-frying the cooked cake adds a fragrant golden crust.

A cup of Shengsheng Oolong with white cream topping outside a Chayan Yuese shop

Zhangjiajie

Chayan Yuese Tea

Shengsheng Oolong combines peach-scented oolong tea with milk and a soft, sweet cream topping. Chayan Yuese began in Changsha and now gives travellers in Zhangjiajie an accessible taste of contemporary Hunan tea culture.