For visitors from abroad
Eating and drinking
Food is the best reason to come, and it is nothing like the Chinese food most countries know. Every province has its own cuisine. Ordering is easy once you know that most restaurants expect you to scan a QR code at the table.
Checked 2026-11-01. Rules change often; confirm anything that matters with an official source before you travel.
How ordering works
- Scan the QR code on the table with WeChat or Alipay, the menu opens on your phone with photos, you tap dishes and pay. Translate the page with your phone's camera or the in app translate button. If there is no code, the paper menu usually has photos; pointing works.
- Dishes come to the middle of the table and everyone shares, so order one dish per person plus rice. In a group, mix one meat, one fish, one vegetable, one soup.
- Tea or hot water is served free. Cold drinks and ice are the exception, not the rule.
- Pay at the table through the app or at the counter on the way out. There is no tipping.
- Restaurants eat early: lunch 11:30 to 13:00, dinner 17:30 to 19:30. Kitchens in small places close by 21:00; night markets and hotpot run late.
Dietary needs
Vegetarian food exists in every city but needs to be asked for, because meat broth and lard appear in vegetable dishes. Buddhist vegetarian restaurants (素食, sù shí) near temples are reliable. For allergies, show the written phrase on your phone: the phrasebook on this site has cards for nuts, peanuts, seafood, gluten and dairy.
Halal food is widespread: look for 清真 (qīng zhēn) in green on the sign; the northwest, Yunnan and every large city have many. Kosher food is limited to a few restaurants in Beijing and Shanghai.
What to eat where
- Beijing: Peking duck, zhajiang noodles, lamb hotpot, jianbing breakfast crepes.
- Shanghai and Jiangnan: xiaolongbao soup dumplings, hairy crab in autumn, sweet soy braised pork, West Lake fish.
- Sichuan and Chongqing: hotpot, mapo tofu, dan dan noodles, and the numbing Sichuan pepper. Ask for 微辣 (wēi là, mildly spicy) if unsure.
- Guangdong and Hong Kong: dim sum breakfasts, roast goose, wonton noodles, late night congee.
- Xi'an and the northwest: hand pulled noodles, roujiamo meat sandwiches, lamb with flatbread soup, Xinjiang skewers and pilaf.
- Yunnan: crossing the bridge rice noodles, wild mushrooms in summer, Dali cheese, Pu'er tea.
- Hunan and Jiangxi: the spiciest cooking in China, smoked pork, steamed fish head with chopped chilli.
- Xinjiang: lamb skewers, nang bread, big plate chicken, hand grabbed rice, grapes and melons in late summer.
Drinks and water
- Do not drink tap water anywhere, including in hotels; boil it or buy bottled, which costs 2 yuan. Ice in restaurants is made from purified water.
- Beer (Tsingtao, Snow, Harbin) is light and cheap; baijiu is the fierce grain spirit used for toasts, 40 to 60 percent.
- Coffee culture is enormous in cities. Luckin and Manner are cheap chains; Shanghai has more coffee shops than any city in the world.
- Tea houses are the place to rest in Chengdu, Hangzhou and Suzhou. A pot with endless hot water costs 20 to 60 yuan for the afternoon.
Common questions
Is street food safe?
Generally yes at busy stalls where food is cooked in front of you. Night markets in Xi'an, Chengdu, Kaifeng and Taipei are a highlight. Avoid pre cooked food sitting in the sun.
Can I get a fork?
Most restaurants have spoons and will find a fork if asked (叉子, chā zi). Hotpot and noodles are easier with chopsticks; you will be competent within a day.
How spicy is Sichuan food really?
Spicier than most visitors expect, and the Sichuan pepper numbs the lips. Order 微辣 (mildly spicy) or 不辣 (not spicy); every dish has a non spicy version, and the cuisine has many gentle classics such as tea smoked duck and twice cooked pork.