Chinese food is often the first encounter Westerners have with Chinese culture. Restaurants established by Chinese citizens abroad over the past three centuries effectively introduced Middle Kingdom cuisine to the world.
But few Westerners comprehend the full magnitude of Chinese cuisine until they visit China. It is only then that they discover how similar ingredients cooked according to respective regional tastes create diverse, distinctive flavors and textures. The culinary excellence distilled in the so-called eight jewels of Chinese cuisine is achieved using the best of ingredients and techniques of each region while retaining local characteristics.
Western visitors may also observe that, as in the West, dining is a favored setting for social and business intercourse. The catering trade is consequently as sensitive to changing market trends as the fashion industry.