Although travelers can try dishes from around China and the globe in renowned food cities Beijing and Shanghai, it is outside these major metropolises where a world of exciting Chinese cuisine awaits the true foodie.
With this in mind and after three years of living in China and writing about Chinese food, I embarked on a six-month journey with my husband and two daughters.
We loaded up a campervan and set out from Shanghai on July 1. We've since covered more than 20,000 kilometers and 21 provinces in our quest to see China's most remote and beautiful areas, and to taste the different regional foods along our way.
Here are eight most amazing Chinese food cities I've come across so far. The list is in no particular order.
1. Chengdu, Sichuan Province
Chengduers take food hunting very seriously
Crowned as Asia's first UNESCO City of Gastronomy in 2010, Chengdu is best-known for its fiery hot pot and spicy dishes, which are characterized by the use of Sichuan pepper and are usually layered with salty, sour and sweet flavors.
There are also dishes that aren't spicy at all, such as beer-braised duck.
The streets hold more than 100 varieties of street snacks, from savory jelly noodles to "dragon lifting a hand" (poached wontons drizzled in toasty chili oil, pepper corns and green onion).
Chef Yu Bo is a must-go. The high-end restaurant cooks sophisticated Sichuan food with awe-inspiring presentations: abalone on spiced mung bean jelly, crispy ginseng root, and tiny spheres of apple poached in syrup tinged with fiery notes of green Sichuan pepper.
Hot pot is as ubiquitous in the city as the smell of chili. At Zigong Delicious Hotpot, the house specialty tiaoshui wa (or "diving frog") is a cauldron of fiery chili to which vegetables, noodles or other meats can be added.
For a real taste of Sichuan's signature pepper, hua jiao, spend a morning at the Chengdu Spice Market where the locals sell and buy it by the sack.
Yu's Family Kitchen (喻家厨房), 43 Zhai Xiang Zi, Xia Tong Ren Lu, Chengdu, 成都市青羊区下同仁路窄巷子43号, +86 28 8669 1975, open daily 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m., 5:30 p.m.-9 p.m., booking required. Chef Yu Bo serves a 34-course degustation menu, which costs roughly RMB300 (US$47) per person for 7-8 people or RMB1,000 per person for 1-2 people.
Zigong Delicious Hotpot (自贡好吃客), 101 Kehua Bei Lu, Wuhou District, Chengdu 成都武侯区科华北路101号, +86 28 8524 0535, open daily 10 a.m.-10 p.m.
Chengdu Spice Market (五块石综合市场), 2 East Saiyuntai Dong Er Lu, Chengdu成都市赛云台东二路2号, open daily 8 a.m.-4.30 p.m.
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