Lonely Planet China

by Lonely Planet

  For the most scrumptious jiǎozi (dumplings), head north and northeast. If you like them crispy, get them guōtiē (fried). Shànghǎi’s delicious interpretation is xiǎolóngbāo – steamed and scalding.

  In the north, also fill up on a tasty dish of húntún (wontons) stuffed with juicy leeks and minced pork, or Ménggǔ huǒguō (Mongolian hotpot), a hearty brew of mutton, onions and cabbage.

  Shànghǎi

  In case you’re pining for something sweet, head to Shànghǎi for delicious mìzhī xūnyú (honey-smoked carp), and where you can also dine on more savoury helpings of steaming xiǎolóngbāo dumplings – which require considerable dexterity to consume without meat juices jetting to all compass points.

  Look out for the characters 本帮菜 (běnbāngcài) on restaurant shopfronts and in menus, which refers to authentic Shànghǎi homestyle cooking.

  Shaanxi

  Stop by Xī'ān for warming servings of yángròu pàomó (mutton broth and shredded flat bread).

  Look for ròujiāmó (肉夹馍; fried pork or beef in pitta bread, sometimes with green peppers and cumin), ròuchuàn (肉串; kebabs) and yummy yángròu pàomó (羊肉泡馍; lamb broth poured over breadcrumbs).

  Húnán

  Húnán is no province for lightweight, dainty palates. A firecracker of a cuisine, Xiāngcài (湘菜; Húnán food) is one of the most potent of Chinese cooking styles, with ample use of chilli and piquant herbs. It eschews the numbing heat of Sìchuān cooking and instead goes for a sharp, full-flavoured spiciness.

  Hong Kong, Macau & Guǎngzhōu

  Dim sum is steamed up across China, but like the Cantonese dialect, it’s best left to the masters of the south to get it right. Hong Kong, Macau and Guǎngzhōu should be your first stops – they set the dim sum benchmark.

  While in Macau, taste the Macanese dish porco à alentejana, a mouthwatering casserole of pork and clams.

  Hǎinán

  Hǎinán specialties include dōngshān yáng (东山羊; mountain goat, stewed, roasted or cooked in coconut milk), chǎobīng (炒冰; blended tropical fruit that is 'fried’ on a cold plate until it turns thick like sorbet) and jiājī yā (加积鸭; steamed duck).

  Yúnnán

  Yúnnán specialities include qìguōjī (汽锅鸡; slow-cooked, herb-infused chicken), xuānweī huǒtuǐ (宣威火腿; Yúnnán ham), guòqiáo mǐxiàn (过桥米线; across-the-bridge noodles) and rǔbǐng (辱饼; goat’s cheese).

  Téngchōng is famous for its cured ham, known as huǒtuǐ (火腿), as well as having all the great Yúnnán vegies and mushrooms, and there are many restaurants in the region to sample them at.

  In Lìjiāng, make sure to try the cuisine of the local Naxi minority, while Shangri-la is a great place to sample Tibetan cooking.

  Sìchuān

  Some like it hot, and little comes hotter than the fiery flavours of Sìchuān. Begin with mouth-numbing mápó dòufu (spicy beancurd dish), followed by the celebrated gōngbǎo jīdīng (spicy chicken with peanuts). If the smoke isn’t now coming out of your ears, shuǐzhǔ yú (fish smothered in chilli) should have you breathing fire.

  Chóngqìng

  Chóngqìng hotpot is ideal for banishing the bitter cold of a northern winter, while in its home town – one of China's 'three furnaces' on the Yangzi River – old folk devour the spiciest of hotpots in summer with little regard for the sweltering weather.

  Chóngqìng hotpot | YANG YIDONG/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

  Xīnjiāng

  To sample the full range of Uighur food, make your way to Kashgar, where you'll have your pick of street food and night markets.

  Fruit is a big deal in Xīnjiāng, from Hāmì's tawuz (watermelon) to Turpan's uzum (grapes) and yimish (raisins). Market heave with fruit from July to September.

  Gānsù

  The province's most famous export is Lánzhōu beef noodles (牛肉拉面; niúròu lāmiàn) – hand-pulled noodles in spicy soup – which are available in small restaurants and shops all over Gānsù.

  How to Eat & Drink

  When to Eat

  The Chinese eat early. Lunch usually commences from around 11.30am, either self-cooked or a takeaway at home, or in a streetside restaurant. Dinner kicks off from around 6pm. Reflecting these dining times, some restaurants open at around 11am, close for an afternoon break at about 2.30pm, open again around 5pm and then close in the late evening. Street-food vendors then take over the duty of feeding the late-night hungry folk.

  Where to Eat

  Chinese eateries come in every conceivable shape, size and type: from shabby, hole-in-the-wall noodle outfits with flimsy PVC furniture, blaring TV sets and well-worn plastic menus to gilded, banquet-style restaurants where elegant cheongsam-clad waitresses show you to your seat, straighten your chopsticks and bring you a warm hand towel and a gold-embossed wine list. In between are legions of very serviceable midrange restaurants serving cuisine from across China.

  As dining in China is such a big, sociable and often ostentatious affair, many Chinese banqueting-style restaurants have huge round tables, thousand-candle-power electric lights and precious little sense of intimacy or romance. Overattentive and ever-present staff can add to the discomfort for foreigners.

  Eating with Kids

  Similar to travelling with children in China, dining out with kids can be a challenge. Budget eateries won’t have kids’ menus; nor will they have booster seats. Smarter restaurants may supply these but it can be touch-and-go. In large cities you will be able to find more restaurants switched on to the needs of families; Western restaurants especially may have a play area, kids’ menu, activities, booster seats and other paraphernalia.

  Menus

  In Běijīng, Shànghǎi and other large cities, you may be proudly presented with an English menu (英文菜谱; Yīngwén càipǔ). In smaller towns and out in the sticks, don’t expect anything other than a Chinese-language menu and a hovering waitress with no English-language skills. The best is undoubtedly the ever-handy photo menu. If you like the look of what other diners are eating, just point at it and say 'wǒ yào nèi gè' (我要那个; 'I want that') – a very handy phrase. Alternatively, pop into the kitchen and point out the meats and vegetables you would like to eat.

  Vegetarian Travellers

  If you’d rather chew on a legume than a leg of lamb, it can be hard to find truly vegetarian dishes. China’s history of famine and poverty means the consumption of meat has always been a sign of status, and is symbolic of health and wealth. Eating meat is also considered to enhance male virility, so vegetarian men raise eyebrows. Partly because of this, there is virtually no vegetarian movement in China, although Chinese people may forgo meat for Buddhist reasons. For the same reasons, they may avoid meat on certain days of the month but remain carnivorous at other times.

  You will find that vegetables are often fried in animal-based oils; vegetable soups are often made with chicken or beef stock, so simply choosing 'vegetable' items on the menu is ineffective. A dish that you are told does not contain meat may still mean it is riddled with tiny pieces of meat. In Běijīng and Shànghǎi you will, however, find a generous crop of vegetarian restaurants to choose from, alongside outfits such as Element Fresh, which has a decent range of healthy vegetarian options.

  Out of the large cities, your best bet may be to head to a sizeable active Buddhist temple or monastery, where Buddhist vegetarian restaurants are often open to the public. Buddhist vegetarian food typically consists of ‘mock meat’ dishes created from tofu, wheat gluten, potato and other vegetables. Some of the dishes are almost works of art, with vegetarian ingredients sculpted to look like spare ribs or fried chicken. Sometimes the chefs go to great lengths to create ‘bones’ from carrots and lotus roots.

  If you want to say ‘I am a vegetarian’ in Chinese, the phrase to use is 'wǒ chī sù' (我吃素).

  COOKING COURSES

  Want to learn how to make Chinese cuisine while on your travels? Popular cooking classes can be found at The Hutong and Black Sesame Kitche
n in Běijīng and the Kitchen At... in Shànghǎi.

  More options include:

  Chinese Cooking Workshop ( GOOGLE MAP ; www.chinesecookingworkshop.com; 108-109, 2 Dongping Rd; 东平路2号 courses from ¥150-200; mHengshan Rd, Shanghai Library) Learn different Chinese cooking styles from dim sum to Sichuanese. It also offers market tours and courses for kids. In Shànghǎi.

  Home's Cooking (www.homescookingstudio.com; classes HK$600) This highly rated cooking class, run out of the owner's home, offers three-hour morning or afternoon sessions. Students cook a three-course Chinese meal: think spring rolls, lotus-leaf chicken and ginger pudding. Classes include a trip to a local wet market and lunch or dinner. In Hong Kong.

  Martha Sherpa ( GOOGLE MAP ; %852 2381 0132; www.marthasherpa.com; Flat F, 14th fl, Wah Lai Mansion, 62-76 Marble Rd, North Point; courses HK$1680; mNorth Point, exit A2) Expert Cantonese home-cook Martha Sherpa (her last name comes from her Nepali husband) has taught the likes of former Australian PM Julia Gillard how to cook dim sum and Hong Kong favourites. Small group classes cover topics like wok cookery, dim sum and vegetarian Chinese. Half-day, full-day and evening classes are available. In Hong Kong.

  Classes can also be found in Dàlǐ, Yángshuò, and Lhasa.

  Plan Your Trip

  Cruising the Yangzi

  Taking a boat down the Yangzi River (长江; Cháng Jiāng) – China's longest and most scenic waterway – is all about the journey rather than the destination. It isn't just an escape from marathon train journeys and agonising bus rides, but a chance to kick back as an astonishing panorama slides by at a sedate pace which allows time for contemplation and relaxation. Cruising the Yangzi is a truly unique experience, one that gets you up close with mostly domestic travellers allowing time for real interaction. Jump aboard.

  When to Go

  Dec-Mar

  The low season; rates are cheaper and the journey is more serene.

  Apr & May

  The best weather, with fewer crowds than summer.

  Jun-Aug

  Chinese summer holidays mean crowded, kid-filled boats.

  Oct & Nov

  Cooler climes but the crowds are back.

  The River

  The journey puts you adrift on China’s mightiest – and the world’s third-longest – river, the gushing 6300km Yangzi River (长江; Cháng Jiāng). Starting life as trickles of snow melt in the Tánggǔlā Shān of southwestern Qīnghǎi, the river then spills from Tibet, swells through seven Chinese provinces, sucks in water from hundreds of tributaries and rolls powerfully into the Pacific Ocean north of Shànghǎi.

  The Route

  Apocryphally the handiwork of the Great Yu, a legendary architect of the river, the gorges – Qútáng, Wū and Xīlíng – commence just east of Fèngjié in Chóngqìng province and level out west of Yíchāng in Húběi province, a distance of around 200km. The principal route for those cruising the Yangzi River is therefore between the cities of Chóngqìng and Yíchāng.

  The route can be travelled in either direction, but most passengers journey downstream from Chóngqìng. Travelling upstream does ensure a less crowded boat, but somehow feels less dramatic.

  If you buy your ticket from an agency, ensure you’re not charged upfront for the sights along the way, as you may not want to visit them all. Some of the sights are underwhelming and entrance fees are as steep as the surrounding inclines. The only ticket truly worth buying in advance is for the popular and worthwhile Little Three Gorges tour, which is often full.

  Chóngqìng to Wànzhōu

  The initial stretch is slow-going and unremarkable, although the dismal view of factories gradually gives way to attractive terraced countryside and the occasional small town.

  Passing the drowned town of Fúlíng (涪陵), the first port of call is at Fēngdū (丰都), 170km from Chóngqìng city. Long nicknamed the City of Ghosts (鬼城; Guǐchéng), the town is just that: inundated in 2009, its residents were moved across the river. This is the stepping-off point for crowds to clamber up Míng Mountain (名山; Míng Shān adult ¥120, cable car ¥20), with its theme-park crop of ghost-focused temples.

  Drifting through the county of Zhōngzhōu, the boat takes around three hours to arrive at Shíbǎozhài (石宝寨, Stone Treasure Stockade adult ¥70; h8am-4pm) on the northern bank of the river. A 12-storey, 56m-high wooden pagoda built on a huge, river-water-encircled rock bluff, the structure dates to the reign of Qing dynasty emperor Kangxi (1662–1722). Your boat may stop for rapid expeditions up to the tower and for climbs into its interior.

  Most morning boats moor for the night at partially inundated Wànzhōu (万州; also called Wànxiàn). Travellers aiming to get from A to B as fast as possible while taking in the gorges can skip the Chóngqìng to Wànzhōu section by hopping on a 3½ hour bus and then taking a passenger ship from the Wànzhōu jetty.

  Wànzhōu to Yíchāng

  Boats departing from Wànzhōu soon pass the relocated Zhāng Fēi Temple (张飞庙, Zhāngfēi Miào ¥40). Quick disembarkations can be made here, allowing a visit to the ancient but much-restored temple which was moved 20 miles upstream in 2002 and now sits opposite Yúnyáng (云阳). A modern, utilitarian and unremarkable town strung out along the northern bank of the river, Yúnyáng is typical of many of the new settlements created in the wake of the building of the Three Gorges Dam. Past here, boats drift on past ragged islets, some carpeted with small patchworks of fields, and alongside riverbanks striated with terraced slopes, rising like green ribbons up the inclines.

  The ancient town of Fèngjié (奉节), capital of the state of Kui during the periods known as the ‘Spring and Autumn’ (722–481 BC) and ‘Warring States’ (475–221 BC), overlooks Qútáng Gorge, the first of the three gorges. The town – where most ships and hydrofoils berth – is also the entrance point to half-submerged White Emperor City (白帝城, Báidìchéng ¥120), where the King of Shu, Liu Bei, entrusted his son and kingdom to Zhu Geliang, as chronicled in The Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

  Qútáng Gorge (瞿塘峡; Qútáng Xiá), also known as Kui Gorge (夔峡; Kuí Xiá), rises dramatically into view, towering into huge vertiginous slabs of rock, its cliffs jutting out in jagged and triangular chunks. The shortest and narrowest of the three gorges, 8km-long Qútáng Gorge is over almost as abruptly as it starts, but is considered by many to be the most awe-inspiring. The gorge offers a dizzying perspective onto huge strata despite having some of its power robbed by the rising waters. On the northern bank is Bellows Gorge (风箱峡; Fēngxiāng Xiá), where nine coffins were discovered, possibly placed here by an ancient tribe.

  After Qútáng Gorge the terrain folds into a 20km stretch of low-lying land before boats pull in at the riverside town of Wūshān (巫山), situated high above the river. Most boats stop at Wūshān for five to six hours so passengers can transfer to smaller boats for trips along the Little Three Gorges (小三峡, Xiǎo Sānxiá ticket ¥200) on the Dàníng River (大宁河; Dàníng Hé). The landscape is gorgeous and you're right up close to it, and many travellers insist that the narrow gorges are more impressive than their larger namesakes. Some tours include a 40 minute ride on local fishing boats here too.

  Back on the Yangzi River, boats pull away from Wūshān to enter the penultimate Wū Gorge, under a bright-red bridge. Some of the cultivated fields on the slopes overhanging the river reach almost illogical angles.

  Wū Gorge (巫峡; Wū Xiá) – the Gorge of Witches – is stunning, cloaked in green and carpeted in shrubs, its sides frequently disappearing into ethereal layers of mist. About 40km in length, its towering cliffs are topped by sharp, jagged peaks on the northern bank. A total of 12 peaks cluster on either side, including Goddess Peak (神女峰; Shénnǚ Fēng) and Peak of the Immortals (集仙峰; Jíxiān Fēng). If you’re fortunate, you’ll catch the sunrise over Goddess Peak.

  Boats continue floating eastward out of Wū Gorge and into Húběi province, along a 45km section before reaching the last of the three gorges. At this time, many boats
offer the option of a two hour trip on motorised dragon boats along Jiǔwǎn Stream (九畹溪; Jiǔwǎn Xī) and nearby tributaries of the Yangzi. Some travellers enjoy the experience, although the scenery isn't as inspiring as that of the Little Three Gorges.

  At 80km, Xīlíng Gorge (西陵峡; Xīlíng Xiá) is the longest and perhaps least spectacular gorge; sections of the gorge in the west have been submerged. Note the slow-moving cargo vessels, including long freight ships loaded with mounds of coal, ploughing downriver to Shànghǎi. The gorge was traditionally the most hazardous, where hidden shoals and reefs routinely holed vessels, but it has long been tamed, even though river traffic slows when the fog reduces visibility.

  Apart from the top-end luxury cruises, tour boats no longer pass through the monumental Three Gorges Dam, although many tours offer the option of a visit to the dam by bus. The passenger ferries and hydrofoils tend to finish (or begin) their journey at Tàipíng Creek Port (太平溪港; Tàipińgxī Gǎng), upstream from the dam. From here, two types of shuttle bus wait to take you into Yíchāng (one hour). One is free and takes you to the old ferry port (老码头; lǎo mǎtóu) in the centre of town. The other costs ¥10 and drops you at Yíchāng East Train Station (火车东站; Huǒchē Dōngzhàn). Ordinary tourist boats tend to use Máopíng Port (茅坪港; Máopíng Gǎng), from where you can at least see the dam, and which is also connected to Yíchāng via shuttle buses.