Regional culture differences vary a lot within China, showing the different styles of food across the nation. There are eight main regional Foods, or Eight Great Traditions (八大菜系): Anhui, Cantonese, Fujian, Hunan, Jiangsu, Shandong, Sichuan and Zhejiang. Sometimes four of the Eight Great Traditions are given Larger emphasis (四大菜系), and are considered to be the Main culinary heritage of China. They are notably defined along geographical lines: Sichuan (Western China), Cantonese (Southern China), Shandong (Northern China), as well as Huaiyang Cuisine (Eastern China), a major style derived from Jiangsu cuisine and even viewed as the representation of that region's cooking.

These days, Beijing cuisine and Shanghai cuisine on occasion are also put along with the classical eight regional styles as the Ten Great Traditions (十大菜系).

In most dishes in Chinese cuisine, food is prepared in bite-sized pieces, ready for picking up and eating. In traditional Chinese cultures, chopsticks are used at the table.

Traditional Chinese cuisine is also based on opposites, whereby hot balances cold, pickled balances fresh and spicy balances mild.