Boiled Chicken is a kind of typical Cantonese style cuisine made by boiling the chicken in water. It is characterized for the simple procedure, tenderness, and retains of the natural flavors and textures. The procedure is as follows: take a local chicken under 1kg; first clean it and then put it into sizzling water; wait for about 15 minutes, during this period take out the chicken twice; then cool it down in cold water; take out the chicken and let it dry; coat the surface of the chicken with cooked peanut oil. It is eaten with the mixture of ground ginger, scallion shreds, salted and cooked oil. Boiled chicken is very smooth, light, and delicious, The famous Boiled Chicken cooked by Ban Xi Restaurant won the “Golden Tripod” awarded by the Ministry of Commerce. Besides, Qing Ping Chicken is also one kind of Boiled Chicken.

Drinking “Liang Cha” is also deep-rooted in the lives of Guangzhou residents. All the year round, “Liang Cha” houses are usually crowded with people. “Liang Cha” is a kind of drink made by Chinese herb, which is cool in nature and capable of dispelling inner heat. Drinking “Liang Cha” can remove heat from the human body in summer and cure throat pain caused by the dry climate in winter. With a long history in Guangzhou, “Liang Cha” has a great variety, such as Wanglaoji “LiangcCha”, Wanghutang “Liang Cha”, Health “Liang Cha”, The King of Chrysanthemum Scented Tea, Bitter Melon Dry “Liang Cha”, etc. Even tortoise Grease Soup, Fresh Fish Soup with Hervs and the Red Carrot and Sugar Cane Soup have become the traditional “Liang Cha” loved by Guangzhou residents. Wanglaoji Liang Cha, the most famous kind, has continuously been favored by Guangzhou residents. Since the 1980s, various “Liang Cha” medicine and “Liang Cha” of soft packing come into being such as Farmers' “Liang Cha”, Summer Chrysanthemum “Liang Cha”, which have become favorite drinks fo many families.

Bai Yun Sweet and Sour Pork Kidney is one of the classical dishes of Guangzhou. The procedure is as follows: Clean the pork kidney (foreleg), cut it into pieces and boil them thoroughly. Let them stay in the running spring water for one whole day. Then boil them with sugar, white vinegar, and salt. After boiling, let it cool down and wait for several hours before it can be served. Because the spring water is from Mountain Baiyun , the dish is named Bai Yun Sweet and Sour Pork Kidney. This dish is sweet sour, fatty but no greasy, crisp-skinned. Your will never be tired of tasting it. While cooked, this dish is paid attention to its colors, flavors, taste and the presentation. If some herbs and red pepper shreds are added, it will be a delight to eyes and be tastier.

This dish is necessary for the banquets of any scale, It is said that a nun in Hedong, Shanxi province created this dish. Mr. Deng, a chef introduced the dish into Guangzhou by the end of Qing Dynasty. The styles of Assorted Fancy Dishes have been improved after many years of innovation. The styles include cold dishes, hot dishes, deep-fired dishes, stewed dishes, grilled dishes and brewed dishes. In recent years there has emerged “Eight Scenes Banquet” named after the eight scenic spots of Guangzhou, such as Pigeon Between Two Bridges, Moon Shadow in the Lake, Red Water Chestnut, Crisp Oyster Of Pearl River. The scenery is depicted and the emotions are expressed in perfect harmony reflecting the charm of the culture of the south of Five Ridges.

Guangzhou is universally known for its excellent food. Cantonese cuisine is one of the Famous Eight in China with different flavors and styles, by using diverse and delicate materials, exotic spices and various cooking skills. Cantonese cuisine, as epitome of Chinese food culture, is a mixture of tradition and modern, east and west. Basically, it is also a combination of local dishes from the different prefectures of Guangdong Province, or even from other provinces and abroad. Cantonese dishes are often characterized with various unusual ingredients and materials. Apart from seafood, animals, insects and worms, flowers and weeds are all made into dishes. There is a variety of Cantonese dim sum, sweet or salty. The delicious Cantonese-style dim sum served with tea offers a fresh flavor in leisure time. It is estimated that there are over 1000 ways of making desserts in Guangzhou. Most locals are gourmets and love varieties. Scattered all over the city there are over 5 000 restaurants, teahouses and snack eateries, offering service around the clock.

"It is not always possible to translate Chinese menus because many of the ingredients are either unknown or unmentionable to Western barbarians", a British magazine once commented on the Chinese dishes. If you want to enjoy authentic Cantonese dishes, you may visit any of the following traditional long-standing local restaurants (Laozihao in Chinese). They are popular for different sorts of Guangzhou dishes, which represent, probably, the essence of Cantonese cuisine:

A recent survey shows that there are now fewer than 50 famous old brand names with a history of over 50 years left in Guangzhou. The Laozihao constitute a crucial part of the city's unique history and Lingnan culture of the over 2200-year-old city. As part of the rescuing and protecting program of the city's historic and cultural relics, the municipal government of Guangzhou has certificated a first round of 27 "Laozihao" (Old Brand Names), in order to preserve the city's historic well-known brand names, buildings and trademarks. In this program, the "Laozihao" are seen as an integral part of the city's cultural heritage. The special craftsmanship and recipes, the brands and trademarks should be taken as valuable invisible assets.

The Cantonese also have a custom of drinking tea with dim sum in their leisure time or at business meetings. The tea drinking tradition can be traced back a hundred years to the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). In those days, the Cantonese used to go to a nearby teahouse, like the popular "Two-Cent Teahouse", where they needed to pay only two cents for a pot of tea and some simple snacks. The customers were mostly temporary laborers who couldn't afford anything more expensive. By the later Qing period, teahouses in the true sense had emerged in Guangzhou. These were more expensive places offering much better tea with a variety of delicacies. The teahouse had become the best retreat for the professionals and businessmen as well as the ordinary people.

The Cantonese came to the teahouse for different reasons. The real tea-drinkers, for instance, preferred to kill time with one pot of fragrantly hot tea and two plates of snacks. Businessmen came here to exchange information as well as to enjoy life a little bit over a cup of tea with some snacks in the old days. But thousands of ordinary urbanites would rush to the teahouse in the early morning for a moment of relaxation before starting the daily routine work. Most would like to go to the same teahouse as usual, where they would take the same seat to meet with their friends and fellows, inform each other of community gossips, or just have small talk among themselves. Sometimes, they simply talked of the hard life they endured. With time passing by, teahouses have prospered ever since they appeared in Guangzhou. Drinking tea has become an inseparable part of the local life. Nowadays, life here starts with the morning tea for many Guangzhou urbanites. So, if you are staying in Guangzhou and want to know about the local customs, better join the Cantonese in their passion for morning tea. In the midst of the crowds of Cantonese teahouse goers, you may get a better idea of what life is like in Guangzhou.