To tempt the palace with a certain kind refreshments during the lull of a voyage is one of life’s good enjoyments. China offers a baffling array of snacks and refreshment, prepared in different culinary styles, and available in every restaurant, eatery, and roadside food stall. And they come in every manner of flavour and with balanced nutritious value. In the south the snacks and refreshments are mostly prepared of rice flour, while in the north wheaten products hold sway. Sweet cakes are among the most important pastry in the Beijing style of cooking; while in Cantonese cuisine, snacks are prepared a la Western style. In Suzhou, the snacks served on board pleasure boats are the most famous. Renowned Chinese snacks include dumplings with dough gathered at the top, steamed glutinous rice cakes with sweet filling, fermented soybean milk, pea-flour cakes and kidney-bean mush rolls of Beijing; Goubuli-brand steamed buns stuffed with minced pork and large dough twists of Tianjin; steamed bun stuffed with crab roe of Zhejiang; hundred-nut cakes and chicken slice porridge of Nantong; Nanxiang-style steamed buns, baked stuffed buns and boat refreshments of Shanghai; steamed buns filled with five kinds of seeds and nuts, and dumplings stuffed with crab meat of Guangdong; and glutinous rice balls and noodles with chilli seasoning of Sichuan.
Fast food has come a long way in recent ears in large and medium-sized cities across the country to meet the multifarious demand of visitors. Apart from typical Chinese snacks, McDonald’s, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut and other Western fast food outlets are making big head way in China.
French, American, Italian, Russian and other Western styles of cooking are making great inroads into China nowdays. Exotic foods are also arriving from China’s Asian neighbours, such as Japan, Korea, Viet Nam, Indonesia, and Thailand.
Sampling some of the best dishes the Chinese cuisine has to offer has proved a unique experience to cherish for tourists from various parts of the world. For this reason, Chinese travel services have organized epicurean itineraries for those who come to China for an unforgettable gourmandizing experience. |
