Street snack
CNY 6–15Typical 2020s jianbing or skewer stick in a city — not a live quote.
Chinese cuisine has a wide middle: a street snack near CNY 6–15 and a tasting menu can share one city.
Figures below are typical 2020s bands, not live quotes or reservation prices.
Cost bands
Everyday lunch
CNY 20–45Noodle or rice set in a neighbourhood canteen, 2020s band.
Casual dinner
CNY 50–100Per-person share of a modest shared-plate dinner.
Night out
CNY 150–300Hotpot or roast-duck house share, typical 2020s.
Fine dining
CNY 400–1,200+Hotel Cantonese or tasting-menu rooms in first-tier cities.
Regions
Pearl River Delta
The export engine: Cantonese, Hong Kong and Shenzhen restaurant capital.
Sichuan-Chongqing
Mala and hotpot as a national and then global style.
Yangtze delta
Jiangnan sweetness, dumplings and vinegar.
North China plain
Wheat, lamb and vinegar-garlic tables.
Southwest highlands
Yunnan and Guizhou herbs, sour soups and chili.
Diaspora Chinatowns
San Francisco, London, Sydney and Toronto as extra provinces.
Key market numbers
Rice S / wheat NGrain split
CNY 6–15 (2020s)Typical street snack
90 / 100Atlas accessibility
88 / 100Atlas umami
Makers & cooks
Wet markets
Still the produce and live-seafood spine in many cities.
Siu mei windows
Cantonese roast shops as neighbourhood protein stations.
Hotpot chains
Haidilao-style industrial communal dining.
Home woks
The majority kitchen of Chinese cuisine.
Soy brewers
Haitian, Lee Kum Kee and regional vinegar houses.
Night skewer stalls
Shaokao as the after-hours maker layer.
The market that feeds most diners is still the everyday lunch room and the household pot, not the export tasting menu.
Keep exploring
More in East Asia
🍲
Korean cuisine
Fermented heat and shared grills: kimchi, gochujang and banchan from the Korean Peninsula.
Overall 76 🍣Japanese cuisine
Dashi, rice and seasonal restraint: washoku from sushi counters to home miso soup.
Overall 72 🍲Vietnamese cuisine
Herbs, nuoc mam and a French-colonial overlay: pho, banh mi and the regional split from Hanoi to the Mekong.
Overall 68 🌶️Thai cuisine
Hot, sour, salty, sweet: nam prik, fish sauce and the regional map from Bangkok street to Isan grilled chicken.
Overall 77