As another brilliant part of the Chinese cultural heritage, the Chinese cuisine with a long-standing tradition is regarded as one of the world's three major culinary schools along with French and Turkish haute cuisine. In the long course of historical development, the Chinese cuisine has developed a fabulous tradition and dazzling array of cooking techniques. Chinese chefs are particular about their choice of ingredients and subtle about the use of fire, with due attention paid to the savories and nutritious balance of the dishes. The difference in locality, material availability, climate, historical condition, and diet habit has given rise to a myriad of local delicacies and refreshments, which never fail to intrigue visitors from every nook and cranny of the world.

It is difficult to say how many culinary schools are there in China. One theory claims that there are four major styles of cooking - Shandong, Sichuan, Jiangsu and Cantonese. Another theory puts the number at eight, with the addition of Fukieness cooking, which attaches utmost importance to freshness of ingredients and delicate taste of dishes, Zhejiang cooking, distinguished by an obsession with the purity of flavor, Hunanese cooking, producing dishes which are pungent in a numbing way, and Anhui cooking, known for its richness of flavors. A third theory argues that Beijing and Shanghai cuisine should be added, so that China has ten dominant schools of cooking.