(I hope my reply doesn't show up twice. My first attempt ended in the
server error.)

You know, I bet if I stay in China 6 more months I'll be fully
acclimated and can eat anything I want without ever getting sick.
Unfortunately I have been in the hygenic US too long (25 years). I
have lost all resistance to these germs that bug me. I am also more
adventurous than I should. My motto is if you can eat it, why can't I?
So I suffer the consequence as a results. My body is very much a
barometer of how clean water is where I travel. I got sick in
Thailand, in Brazil (two out of three trips), and in China (three in
three weeks). I am fine most everywhere else, certainly in western
Europe not to mention the US.

Regarding Chinese food, I don't care too much for the northern cuisine.
Is it a mere coincidence I am of southern geneaology? I remember
years ago I met a Chinese southerner who raised this sentiment
regarding northern dishes that they are mere varieties of dough product
made of fluor. I more or less agree. Peking duck is good. But the
same dish prepared, say in Hong Kong or in Taiwan can be much tastier.
I do not care mush for dishes in Xian either. Xian is another
north-west Chinese city.

Personally I like Jiang-Nan, or "south of the Yantze" cuisines. The
fact the Grand Canal originated in Su-Chow (near Shang-Hai) and ends
somewhere near Beijing should tell you something. Traditionally The
northern Chinese empire rulers relied on the Yang-Tze river basin for
food supply. Matter of fact that is the sole purpose the Gand Canal
was constructed, to ship grain and other food stuff north to the empire
rulers in the north. My favorite city as far as food is concerned is
Hang-Zhou. Of course given this was my first time in China and given
the limited number of cities I visited it didn't say much.

Being born and raised in the south (Taiwan), my favorite cuisine is
Cantonese. Jiang-Zhe (Shang-Hai) cuisines come as a close second.
They are both "south of the Yantze", the traditionally grain stores of
China where food is abundant. I do not care too much for hot cuisines
like Hunan and Sichuan either. That's my bias.

But it is a farcry to compare any of them to the dishes you get in a
typical transplanted Chinese restuarant in say, the US or UK. Some
Chinatowns may have something close to authentic. Problems is you need
to know how to order (read Chinese menu and understand it).