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What to eat in China

The 10 best dishes in China

Eight great regional cuisines and the biggest street food culture on earth.

1

Peking duck

Best: Beijing

Lacquered duck roasted in a wood oven, carved at the table, wrapped in pancakes.

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2

Xiaolongbao

Best: Shanghai

Pleated soup dumplings of pork and hot broth.

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3A photo like it

Mapo tofu

Best: Chengdu

Soft tofu in a fiery, numbing sauce of chili bean paste, Sichuan pepper and minced beef.

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4

Dim sum

Best: Guangzhou

Har gow, siu mai and buns with tea, morning to lunch.

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5

Hot pot

Best: Chongqing and Chengdu

A bubbling pot of chili-beef tallow broth for cooking meats and vegetables at the table.

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6

Lanzhou beef noodles

Best: Lanzhou

Hand-pulled noodles in clear beef broth with chili oil and radish.

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7

Kung pao chicken

Best: Sichuan

Chicken stir-fried with peanuts, dried chili and Sichuan pepper.

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8

Char siu

Best: Guangzhou

Barbecued pork with a sweet red glaze, over rice.

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9

Jianbing

Best: Tianjin and Beijing

A thin crepe with egg, crispy cracker, scallion and sauce, made on the street at breakfast.

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10

Dan dan noodles

Best: Chengdu

Noodles with spicy pork, preserved vegetable and chili oil.

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Photos: each dish's lead photo on its Wikipedia article (license and author on Wikimedia Commons); "a photo like it" is a food photo of the same kind, not that dish. Cook it opens a recipe in Chef Amazing, or Chef writes one for you. Picked by Chef Amazing, November 2026.