The various cultures and nation-states present in the general area now referred to as mainland China over the past 2500 years have taken many and varied forms, though many have laid claim in some way to a shared "national narrative" of history, the strand of stories, cultures, and images that have come in recent times to be thought of as "China". Indeed, it is this peculiar diversity, combined with a scientifically almost groundless but culturally significant insistence on "unity", that gives us such a broad and confused idea of what "China" is. Beijing-style cuisine is a far cry from Sichuanese, and hearty Dongbei is a long way from saucy and soupy Cantonese. In the south, it is said, they eat noodles with their meals, and in the north, they eat rice. In Manchuria, they even eat fried dis