Greetings from China! During my stay in Hangzhou, I’ve had the opportunity to sample local cuisine, dining at several traditional Chinese restaurants. Located in the eastern part of China, Hangzhou serves Cantonese-style Chinese food. The city is close to the water, so most meals include fresh fish, typically prepared with a sweet sauce similar to the sweet and sour sauce of American Chinese food. Traditional Chinese cooking utilizes 600 ingredients, including a wide variety of meats and vegetables. There are 48 styles of cooking including fried. Our guide told us there are few things Chinese people won’t eat. He said they eat everything on the land except tables and chairs, everything in the sky except airplanes and everything in the sea except submarines. I sampled many different dishes, some more unusual than others. Standouts were fried fish in sweet sauce, eggplant in garlic sauce, soup dumplings, pork with garlic, roasted cauliflower and beef with spicy peppers. While I consider myself a fairly adventurous eater, there were a few dishes too unusual for me, including an omelet with some type of meat and a stretchy consistency. I still have a few upcoming meals during my stay in China, and I’m looking forward to sampling more new dishes. — Katie Skrzek, digital director