Peking Cuisine is in essence and in short the Haute Cuisine of China. It combines the dishes that originated from the Imperial Kitchens or created from the wealth of produce of North China, with all the culinary creations which have been distilled and imported from the vast repertoire of dishes from the outlying provinces
 
 The beef and lamb dishes, the hot pots and barbecues from Inner Mongolia; the crabs and giant prawns from the Gulf of Yangtze; the duck dishes from the environs of Peking; the corn pastas, chicken and the "Great White Cabbage" from Shantang and the plains of North China. The salt-baked and the hot-spiced dishes from Szechuen; the distilled chicken from Yunnan; the delicate seafood creations and fruit-flavoured dishes from Kwantung and Fukien. The rich clean broths and the whole fish and large long-cooked meat dishes with their vast accompaniment of vegetable creations from the Yangtze (Shanghai) and the "Great Lakes" of China.
 
 Peking cuisine is essentially metropolitan, but with the emphasis on the culinary achievements which are the products of the history of Peking and the produce which are within easy reach of the capital.