The food available ranges from more top range restaurants to simple home cooking which is not much more expensive than buying the ingredients and cooking it yourself. Because of this, eating out, unlike in the west where it often quite an occasion, is something available to almost everyone and done very often.

Chinese meals are a sociable occasion, where you eat with friends and many dishes are ordered and everyone shares.

Vegertariansim and Dietery Requirements

Although there is not much awareness of allergies in China and vegetarianism is rare among the non-religious, with some local knowledge and grasp of basic language, it is possible to experience the food China has to offer in its fantastic restaurants in a meat-free way, without stress.

Our advisors will be able to help you explain your dietary requirements to restaurant staff and advise you on places where it is safe to eat. For vegetarians, there are some fantastic vegetarian restaurants where you can try meat-free dishes at ease. China is renowned for its ingenious meat substitutes, which produce very convincing meat alternatives.

Vegetarianism is also a key component to devout Buddhists, who believe in reincarnation. Therefore, temples are often a good place to find vegetarian restaurants. For a simpler experience, it is often possible to pay a few yuan to eat with the monks themselves. If you do this be careful not to help yourself to more than you can manage because, unlike the rest of Chinese culture, wasting food in a monastery is offensive.

A Huge Range of Fantastic Tastes

Accounting for roughly 20% of the world's population, China stretches over almost 10 million square kilometres, making it the world's fourth largest country. Three hundred ethnicities have been drawn into a cohesive entity through a long and turbulent history. But despite its transformation into a unified modern state, China has retained a delicious wealth of cultural diversity in the 56 nationalities that remain, opening an abundance of fantastic culinary experiences, each area with a distinct flavour to offer.

The saltiness of northern food contrasts to the sweetness of southern food. 90% of the Chinese food you will have tasted prior to entering China is from the southern provinces, so you are in for a new treat when coming to Beijing (literally, Northern Capital in Chinese)!

Chinese food can be roughly divided into eight regional cuisines, all of which are available in different styles of restaurants in Beijing (as well as a plethora of international cuisine). One of the most enjoyable aspects of your stay will be exploring these fantastic, exotic and sometimes very strange dishes.

Fortunately, you will most likely be able to afford trying a different restaurant every day. Most dishes can be purchased in a nice restaurant for under 20RMB and when you dine with a couple of friends you will be able to eat a great meal and have a couple of drinks each for under 30RMB. In anticipation of these culinary delights we will give you an introduction here to the eight regional styles of cooking.