What to know before you eat in China
Chinese food is not one cuisine, and the restaurant you walk into in Chengdu has almost nothing in common with the one in Guangzhou. The eight regional traditions differ in heat, oil and staples. Ordering is easier than visitors expect: nearly every restaurant now runs a QR-code menu with pictures, and pointing at what the next table is eating is universally understood.
What actually trips people up is not the food, it is the logistics — how to pay, how to refuse something, whether a street stall is safe, and whether to tip.
| Question | Short answer |
|---|---|
| What does a meal cost? | Street and noodle shops ¥10-30; a mid-range restaurant ¥40-80 a head; a good dinner ¥150-300. The regional gap is real: Chengdu and Chongqing are far cheaper than Shanghai. |
| How do I order? | Scan the QR code on the table, order on your phone, pay in the app. Staff will help if you ask, and pointing works everywhere. |
| Is street food safe? | Mostly yes, when it is cooked in front of you and the queue is local. Skip anything sitting out at room temperature. |
| Do I tip? | No. Not in restaurants, taxis or hotels. |
| Vegetarian? | Harder than you expect — broth, lard and oyster sauce turn up everywhere. Learning one phrase (我吃素) helps a lot. |
| Spice? | Sichuan and Hunan are genuinely hot, and 微辣 ("mild") still means spicy. |
| Paying | Alipay or WeChat Pay on the table QR code. Cash is accepted but awkward; see paying in China with a foreign card. |
Common questions
Can I drink tap water in China?
No. Tap water is not drinkable anywhere in mainland China. Hotels provide kettles or bottled water, and sealed bottled water is cheap and everywhere. Ice in drinks is generally fine in hotels and modern restaurants.
Is it hard to eat vegetarian in China?
Harder than in most Western countries, because many vegetable dishes are cooked with meat broth, lard or oyster sauce without saying so. Buddhist vegetarian restaurants, which exist in most cities, are genuinely meat-free and are the safest option. Learn the phrase 我吃素 (wo chi su).
Do I need cash for street food?
Rarely. Street vendors increasingly display a QR code for Alipay or WeChat Pay, and the ones that do not will usually take small notes. Carry ¥100-200 in small bills as a fallback rather than expecting to rely on cash.