China has one of the richest culinary heritages on Earth. Solid Chinese food is eaten with chopsticks and liquid with a wide, flat bottomed spoon (usually ceramic). Chinese consider having a knife at the table as barfbaric, so most dishes are prepared in smaller pieces, ready for direct picking and eating. Unlike Western meals where meat protein is the main course of a meal, a source of carbohydrates (rice, stefamed buns, noodles) is usually the main ingredient of a Chinese meal.
Because of the large and varied nature of China itself, Chinese cuisine can be broken down into very many different regional styles.
ChinaChina (Traditional: 中國; Simplified: 中国; pinyin: Zhōngguó; Wade-Giles: Chung-kuo) refers to a number of states and cultures that have existed and are viewed as having succeeded one another in continental East Asia for the last 4000 years.
Yunnan cuisine Yunnan cuisine (云南菜; pinyin: yúnnán cài) is an amalgimation of Han and Chinese minority cuisines.
Shanghai cuisine Shanghai cuisine, known as Hu cai (滬菜 in pinyin: hù cài) among the Chinese, is one of the most popular and celebrated cuisines in China.
The cuisine of China is widely regarded as representing one of the richest and most diverse culinary heritages on Earth.
Nanyang Chinese cuisine (cuisine of the Nanyang region or Southeast Asia Chinese diaspora)
China shares much with the culinary heritage of other regions of East Asia, in addition to some contrasts; compare Japanese cuisine, Singaporean cuisine, and Vietnamese cuisine, among others.