Chinese people value their way of dining very much. There is an old saying still being quoted today ---"Food is the first neccessity of the people." Delicious and nutritious food has been regarded as the basics of ordinary life. The Chinese culinary culture has a distant source and has been developed for many centuries. The legend has it that the Chinese cooking culture originated with Yi Yin, a virtuous and capable minister of the Shang Dynasty (ca. 15th to 11th century B.C.). It can be seen that China initiated the culinary art as early as the Shang and Zhou (ca. 11th century to 221 B.C.) times. With the economic growth through various periods, people have been always exploring new cooking techniques ----from brevity to variety, from rudimentary to advanced stage, from day-to-day snacks to feasts, even to palatial dishes and delicacies. During the period from the Spring and Autumn Period(ca. 770-476 B.C.) and the Warring States Period(ca. 475-221 B.C.), to the Sui-Tang period, the Chinese dishes began to be separated by Southern and Northern tastes. In general, the southern dishes emphasize freshness and tenderness. Due to the cold weather, northern dishes are relatively oily, and the use of vinegar and garlic tends to be quite popular. As far as staple food is concerned, people in North China favor noodles, dumplings and other staple food made from flour while the majority in the South almost consume rice daily. During the period of the Tang (618-907 A.D.) and the Song (960-1279 A.D.) dynasties, people started to shift their attention to the nutritional and medical values of different plants such as fungus, herbs and vegetables. Many varieties of "medicinal food" have been cooked for the prevention and cure of diseases, or for health and recovery. As time went by, distinct local flavors were added to the Chinese dishes, such as the Northern food("Lu" or the Shandong dishes), the Southern food ("Yue" or the Cantonese dishes), the Chuan food (Sichuan dishes), Huai Yang (Yangzhou) and the vegetarian foods and recipes of each kind of dishes have been handed down. There are four oldest types of Chinese food: the Sichuan, Cantonese, Northern(Beijing and Shandong) and Huaiyang. Later on, eight types gradually evolved after the Tang and Song Dynasties (the Beijing, Sichuan, Cantonese, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Hunan and Fujian groups). Each of these groups has its own history and unique techniques.
