Dallas' Five Best Chinese Restaurants

Royal China, pictured above
Xiao long bao dumplings are like little tiny presents that explode in your mouth. And hand pulled noodles beat those prepared versions that often end up in a clump like a tennis ball in the bottom of your bowl. You guys liked Royal China too, awarding the Preston Royal spat a Readers Choice award this year. I'm starting my binge here.

*****

Howard Wang's China Grill
Howard Wang's, on Northwest Highway at Midway Road, boasts a clean modern space not unlike Royal China. (It opened in 2005.) The restaurant was successful enough to warrant a second, fancier location in Uptown.

*****

Maxim's Dim sum people -- cart after cart after cart after cart of greasy delicious food, one small bite at a time. In 2007 we ordained Maxim's the best place to eat till you explode. The end of the world is coming, haven't you heard? You might as well go out with a bang.

*****

Caravelle Chinese and Vietnamese Perfect for when you have a large group of picky eaters or you want pho to go with your sesame chicken. Caravelle is also located in a strip mall with 700 other Asian restaurants and a grocery store. Pick up some fresh lychees for the ride home.

*****

First Chinese
They may not have really been first, but they'll stake the claim anyway. Serving up the juiciest slabs of roast pork, fattiest slices of duck and tastiest Cantonese comfort food locally for 23 years earned First Chinese Observer's Best this year.

Do You Make These Mistakes with Your Chopsticks?

In China, chopsticks function similar to the knife and fork used in the West. As with using a knife and fork, using chopsticks also comes with some no-nos. Before checking out whether you are making these mistakes with your chopsticks at the dinner table, let's learn the standard way to hold chopsticks.

Standard Way for Holding Chopsticks in China

Holding chopsticks closer to their upper end is more elegant and cultured. The following steps describe the standard way for using chopsticks.

1. Stabilize this bottom chopstick, which does not move when in use (the top chopstick can move).

2. The top chopstick is held like a pencil, with the tips of your thumb, index finger and middle finger stabilizing it.

3. The key to use chopsticks is keeping the bottom chopstick still and move only the upper chopstick. Your thumb firmly holds the chopsticks firmly while your index and middle fingers pivot to help the chopstick grasp the food.

When Holding Chopsticks

1. Do not point them or your index finger at someone. Some people hold chopsticks with their thumb, middle finger, ring finger and little finger, leaving the index finger free, which may then point at others. However, pointing chopsticks or the index finger is often done during a quarrel, and is recognized as impolite behavior.

2. Holding chopsticks upside-down which indicates that you are so hungry that your ignoring your table manners.

3. Sticking your chopsticks into food or rice when they are not in use is ill boding, because this is only done to the rice on an altar at funerals.

When Eating with Your Chopsticks

4. Do not hang your chopsticks above dishes shilly-shally, which makes it seem that you are picking and choosing your food.

5. Do not pick up other food when your chopsticks have food on them.

6. Do not stir or pick out food with your chopsticks.

7. Do not use your own chopsticks to fetch food when a pair of communal chopsticks is provided.

8. Do not knock on a dish or bowl with your chopsticks. This is recognized as beggar’s behavior in China.

9. Do not bite or suck your chopsticks, and do not use your chopsticks as a toothpick.

10. Do not jab your chopsticks into your food instead of using them to corectly pick up your food.

11. Do not pick up your favorite food more than three times without intermission.

12. Do not washing your chopsticks in soup.

China's Top Food Cities

What are the best places in China for food? If you just came to China to sample the best of its authentic food in authentic settings, where should you go? Of course food is usually only ever part of the Chinese experience that visitors are looking for, and if you go to the following cities, you can also experience a wide range of the best sights China has to offer when you’re not eating.

China Highlights has prepared a selection of Chinese Food Tours covering the most popular destinations for customers who are particularly interested in tasting genuine oriental cuisine.

Also read 10 Best Cities to Visit in China

Below are China's Top Eight Food Cities.

1. Hong Kong

• Location: Southeast China
• Culinary Style: Cantonese cuisine, Hong Kong Cuisine, Foreign cuisine

Cantonese food is enjoyed the world over and is closest to the flavor of Chinese takeaway food. It is the sweetest of China’s Eight Culinary Styles, and is the most similar to the Western palate. Hong Kong offers this style, along with good seafood, and dim sum (tea and a light meal, peculiar to HK).

Hong Kong, being a wealthy international city, has restaurants selling high-quality food from many countries of the world, most notably Japanese, Korean, and British food.

2. Beijing

• Location: Northeast China
• Culinary Style: Jing cuisine, Northeast cuisine, Mongolian cuisine

Peking duck or simply roast duck is a delicious classic among Chinese foods. It is prepared no better anywhere than in Beijing, where it originated as an imperial food. Quanjude Restaurant serves the duck feast in lavish and studied style. Beijing food is in a class of its own, called Jing cuisine.

In the north of China wheat is the staple, more than rice, so many wheaten foods are eaten, like pancakes, noodles, steamed buns, and dumplings. There is also lots of braising in the Northeast style.

Mongolian hotpot is another classic that should be eaten in Beijing, which is surprisingly only about 250 kilometers (160 miles) from Inner Mongolia, or 500 kilometers (300 miles) from Hohhot.

Also read a bite of Beijing street snacks.

3. Chengdu

• Location: Central China, Sichuan Province
• Culinary Style: Chuan cuisine

Chengdu is the capital of Sichuan Province, which gives its name to the spiciest, and also a very popular, Chinese culinary style. China’sSichuan food should be braved. It is too hot for most in all but small quantities, but if you love chilies this is heaven. Classic dishes that should be eaten here are the Sichuan hotpot, kungpao chicken andmapo tofu. Chongqing is also a great city to eat Chuan food.

4. Turpan

• Location: Northwest China, Xinjiang Autonomous Region
• Culinary Style: Muslim cuisine, Xinjiang Cuisine

Anywhere in the Muslim Northwest of China would be a great place to eat whole roast lamb and hand-pulled noodles, as this is where these dishes originate. Also do not miss the Xinjiang ‘large flatbreads’, known locally as nang (/nung/).

Turpan pips Urumqi for food, the capital of the Xinjiang, because it also has excellent locally grown dried fruit in its almost rural setting. Its small town restaurants and shops provide a more peaceful and authentic atmosphere than the biggest city in Central Asia.

5.Xiamen

• Location: Southeast China, Fujian Province
• Culinary Style: Min (Fujian) cuisine

For great seafood and authentic sweet and sour dishes go to Xiamen.

Fujian cuisine, developed in Fujian Province on the Pacific, is known for its spices and soups. Xiamen’s attractions make it the most interesting city in Fujian.

6. Guangzhou

• Location: Southeast China, Guangdong Province
• Culinary Style: Yue (Cantonese) cuisine

Guangzhou (once known as Canton) and other Pearl River Delta cities, like Shenzhen, are good places to go for original Cantonese food.

Guangzhou’s specialties include white cut chicken and roast suckling pig, as well as spring rolls and sweet and sour dishes.

7. Macau

• Location: Southeast China, by Guangdong Province and Hong Kong, on the Pacific coast
• Culinary Style: Portuguese-meets-Chinese, Cantonese cuisine

For an interesting mix of Portuguese and Chinese style food journey toMacau. This small former colony has a menu different enough and tasty enough to merit a place on the list.

It is in the Cantonese food zone.

8. Xi'an

• Location: Central China, Shaanxi Province
• Culinary Style: Northwest cuisine, Muslim cuisine, imperial feasts

Xi’an should be on the list for its imperial feasts, including many exotic meat platters, like camel and donkey, that can be eaten while viewing a Tang Dynasty show.

Xi’an is a representative place for the Northwest food style, which is actually quite similar to the Northeast style, represented by Beijing above, but more noodles, with less buns and dumplings. Lanzhou is famous for its pulled noodles.

Other Interesting Food Cities

Those top eight food cities cover the range of China’s best mainstream foods, and those generally preferred by the foreign palate. Much ofChina’s ethnic minority food and less well-known culinary styles are more of an acquired taste.

China’s biggest variety of minorities are concentrated in the South. Key cities are Kaili, Kunming, Guilin, Xishuangbanna, etc. See China’s Top Minority Cities. Besides minority food, cities on Hainan Island likeHaikou and Sanya have fresh tropical fruit and excellent seafood.

Tibetan food is the least accessible of China’s foods, but besides in Lhasa and other Roof-of-the-World places, Tibetan food can be found in places like Lijiang, Diqing, and Dali in Yunnan, and in Jiuzhaigou inSichuan Province.

Five provinces in Central and East China give their names to five lesser known of China’s eight regional culinary styles, not covered by the cities listed above: Lu Cuisine (Shandong Cuisine), Su Cuisine(Jiangsu Cuisine), Zhe Cuisine (Zhejiang Cuisine), Hui Cuisine (Anhui Cuisine), and Xiang Cuisine (Hunan Cuisine). Visit their capital cities (Jinan, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Hefei, and Changsha respectively) to taste these styles.