Chinese cuisine can be classified into 4 main different regional types:

- Sichuan cuisine: originates from Sichuan province, which is located in the south-west of China. It is famous for its spiciness.

- Shanghai cuisine: influenced by the maritime position of the region. It is famous for its seafood and soup dishes.

- Shandong cuisine: originates from the North. It is famous for its duck eaten with small pancakes, spring onions and hoisin sauce. The North cuisine is more wheat-based than rice-based and includes lots of noodles and ravioli dishes.

- Cantonese cuisine: the best known and most exported Chinese cuisine originating from the South. It associates sweet and sour flavours and uses a great diversity of ingredients, including snake, weasel, monkey, frog, etc.

宫保鸡丁 (Kung Pao Chicken) is a spicy dish from Sichuan. It mainly consists of chicken, peanut, and hot pepper. 宫保 is the title of the position of the man who first invented the recipe at the end of the 19th century. 鸡丁 means 'diced chicken'.

大闸蟹 (Chinese crab) is a seasonal delicacy. It is best in autumn, when crab meat is the richest. 大闸 literally means 'big dam': fishermen light up dam gates at night to attract and catch the crabs. Hence the name. Chinese crabs have a subtle flavour, and people like to steam them to preserve it. It is not easy to eat a crab! Usually people use their hands, but in some restaurants, you'll be offered special tools such as a small hammer and pliers.

北京烤鸭 (Beijing Roast Duck) is a famous dish from Beijing that has been prepared since imperial times, and is now considered one of China's national dishes. The duck is usually sliced in front of the diners and then the duck meat and crispy skin are eaten with pancakes, spring onions, and hoisin or sweet bean sauce.

Dim-sum is a Cantonese term for a type of Chinese meal that involves small individual portions of food, usually dumplings, served in a small steamer basket or on a small plate and accompanied by tea. The Mandarin equivalent for dim-sum is 点心 (snacks). There is quite a variety of small dishes in Chinese cooking such as: shrimp dumplings 虾饺, cha siu baau (barbecue pork buns) 叉烧包, steamed buns 小笼包, spring rolls 春卷, etc.