Hunan or Szechuan, That's the Question. Although people in the West speak about Chinese food as one kind of cuisine, in truth it is the sum of some widely different cooking styles from various parts of China. Given the vast size of the country and the great diversity of the culture, the emergence of multiple culinary arts with noted regional characteristics is quite natural and inevitable. Some terms that people in the West frequently hear and use - Hunan, Szechuan, etc., reflect this fact.
So how do these different regional styles of cuisine fare with the Chinese themselves. According to one survey conducted in Beijing, Sichuan (Szechuan) is the top choice of the largest percentage of people. Below is the rankings:
Sichuan (Szechuan) - 28.6%
Beijing (Peking) - 19.8%
Cantonese (Guangzhou) - 13.1%
Shangdong - 7.9%
Hunan - 7.1%
Jiangsu - 7.1%
Shanghai - 5.2%
Hubei -4.5%
Others - 7.1%
For those who are not familiar with the differences among these regional styles, Grandma's Bean Curd is from Sichuan; dim sum originated in the Canton area. Peking Duck? You know that already, don't you.