China’s famed Huaiyang cuisine is expected to take centre stage when US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping attend a lavish state banquet in Beijing on Thursday, underscoring Beijing’s long-standing use of food diplomacy during high-profile diplomatic engagements.

Known for its mild and delicate flavours, refined knife techniques and emphasis on seasonal ingredients, Huaiyang cuisine originates from the region surrounding Shanghai and has historically been favoured for state occasions because of its broad appeal and understated elegance.

“One of the key strengths of Huaiyang cuisine is its broad appeal. Its flavours are widely acceptable and accessible to most people, including international guests,” said Shi Qiang, executive chef at Gui Hua Lou, an upscale Huaiyang restaurant in Shanghai.

“From the overall philosophy of Huaiyang cuisine, state banquets are not centered on luxury ingredients. They don’t rely on expensive items; extravagance is simply not the focus,” he added.

Food has long carried deep political and cultural symbolism in China, particularly given the country’s modern history of famine and decades of rationing, which transformed cuisine into a powerful symbol of status and hospitality.

Huaiyang cuisine, one of China’s eight major regional culinary traditions, has featured prominently at several landmark diplomatic events. It was served at the 1949 “founding banquet” marking the establishment of the People’s Republic of China, at the country’s 50th anniversary state banquet in 1999, and during a 2002 banquet hosted by former Chinese President Jiang Zemin for then-U.S. President George W. Bush.

In recent years, food has also become part of several memorable moments involving visiting foreign officials. Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen sparked online discussion in 2023 after joking about eating “magic mushrooms” at a Yunnan restaurant in Beijing, while then-U.S. Vice President Joe Biden visited a modest Beijing eatery in 2011 known for its fried liver dish.

China has also immortalised diplomatic ties through cuisine. A chicken dish was reportedly named after former U.S. diplomat Henry Kissinger and served during his secret 1971 visit to China, while dishes prepared for foreign leaders are often recreated as “set banquets” by restaurants across the country.

Among the best-known Huaiyang dishes are “lion’s head” pork meatballs, Yangzhou fried rice, sweet-and-sour “squirrel fish”, and “wensi tofu” — a delicately prepared tofu dish sliced into thousands of thin strands.

The cuisine relies heavily on ingredients native to the Yangtze River basin, including freshwater fish, eel and bamboo shoots, while using minimal seasoning to preserve natural flavours.

Christopher St. Cavish, a Shanghai-based food writer, said the cuisine’s balanced profile makes it particularly suitable for diplomatic occasions.

“It’s great for banquets because it’s lighter than the food of Shandong in China’s north, not spicy like the foods of the southwest, such as Sichuanese cuisine, and more approachable and less reliant on exotic ingredients than Cantonese cuisine,” he said.

“In the most basic description, it’s ‘safe’. It’s the equivalent of serving chicken at a banquet in Washington, DC. No one is going to get offended, find it too hot to eat, or too exotic to try.”

During Trump’s previous visit to China in 2017, he was served Huaiyang-style dishes including braised vegetables in soup and stewed beef with tomato, a menu choice seen as a nod to his preference for well-done steak. (Arise News)

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