Chinese food can be roughly divided into the Northern and Southern styles of cooking. In general, Northern dishes are relatively oily, and the use of vinegar and garlic tends to be quite popular. Wheat, processed into pasta, also plays an important role in Northern cooking; noodles, ravioli-like dumplings, steamed, stuffed buns, fried meat dumplings, and steamed bread are just a few of the many flour-based treats enjoyed in the North of China. The best known regional variations of Northern Chinese cuisine include those of Beijing, Tianjin, and Shandong.
