Chinese cuisine (中国菜 or 中餐), originating from the various regions of China, can be found in restaurants throughout the world— from Asia to the Americas, Australia, Western Europe and even Southern Africa.

Regional & cultural differences vary greatly throughout China.  This diversity has given rise to the different styles of food across the nation.  Traditionally there are eight main regional cuisines, or Eight Great Traditions (菜系) which include: Anhui, Cantonese , Fujian, Hunan, Jiangsu, Shandong , Sichuan and Zhejiang.   Of these, Four Great Traditions (四大菜系) are usually given greater emphasis, and are considered to dominate the culinary heritage of China.   They are defined along geographical lines: Cantonese (Southern China), Sichuan (Western China), Shandong (Northern China), as well as HuaiYang Cuisine (Eastern China).

Recently, Beijing cuisine and Shanghai cuisine are also cited along with the classical eight regional styles and together form the Ten Great Traditions (十大菜系).

Chinese Cuisine in Qingdao: