The Chinese dishes Chinese people love most
by Tracy You, for CNN（版权属于原作者）
Updated 0042 GMT (0842 HKT) October 1, 2015
When China's October 1 National Day rolls around, food is part of the celebration, even for citizens living on the other side of the world.
But while ingredients are easy to transport, feelings of home aren't.
Nor are certain specialties that only taste their best in the place they were born.
With 56 ethnic groups, eight recognized major cuisines and countless cooking styles, this menu of Chinese favorites could run longer than a finely pulled noodle.
But these 14 dishes are almost guaranteed to waken the homesick bug in most mainland Chinese living or traveling abroad.
In no particular order, these are the real deals, hard to find at your local Chinese restaurant.
Proper street kebabs（烧烤）
The most unforgettable meals in China don't come from Michelin-starred restaurants.
They're eaten in the streets in noisy, crowded, pungent food quarters in the heart of cities.
In places like Guijie in Beijing, Yunnan Nan Lu in Shanghai and Mingwalang in Nanjing, foodies can sample all sorts of freshly cooked skewers while witnessing the ultimate in food theater.
Islamic lamb kebabs with cumin, teppanyaki-style squid with five-spice sauce, gigantic "swords" of mind-blowing spicy chicken wings, grilled fresh oysters, fried pork tenderloin slices and razzle-dazzle exhibitions of vegetables-on-sticks.
Every bite of China's street kebabs is a combination of good food and a street-side buzz unique to the country.
Spicy crayfish（小龙虾）
Crayfish has taken China by a storm in the past decade or so.
Cities all over the country go gaga over the crustaceans, which are simmered in a broth with chili and abundant spices then served dry.
From spring to early autumn, crayfish-night-outs have become a ritual for many.
Groups of friends find a jam-packed stall, sit on tiny plastic stools and order a bucket or two of bright red crayfish.
No chopsticks needed -- digging in with the hands is preferred.
The preferred beverage to go with these tasty freshwater lobsters?
Ice cold Chinese beer -- Reeb, Tsingtao, Yanjing, depending on the city.
中国名小吃
Lamb hot pot（涮羊肉）
Outside of China, spicy Sichuan hot pot and nourishing Cantonese hot pot are well known.
But in China, a country closely linked to Mongolian nomads, heavy and hearty lamb hot pot is hugely popular, especially in the north during the bitterly cold winter.
Likely originating during the Yuan Dynasty and made popular by Qing Dynasty emperors, lamb hot pot is dramatic to look at -- the copper container has a tall chimney in the middle to release steam from burning coal below, while the broth cooks in the outskirts of the pot.
Although a variety of meats, seafood and vegetables can be cooked, the star of the meal is plate after plate of wafer-thin lamb slices.
Guilin rice noodles（桂林米线）
Located in southern China among clear rivers and Karst Mountains, Guilin isn't only famous for its heavenly landscape, but bowls of refreshing rice noodles topped with preserved long beans, peanuts, bamboo shoots and spring onions.
There are noodles stalls everywhere in Guilin and surrounding areas.
Locals like to mix the silky noodles and ingredients in a spicy and sour brine then eat them dry; or savor the whole combination in the beef stock.
Different meats can be added. The most popular tend to be slices of beef and chunks of beef belly.
Yan Du Xian soup（腌笃鲜）
Yan Du Xian is a nutritious soup known as the great comfort food of the Yangtze River Delta in early spring.
It's a typical homey dish -- restaurants serve it, but the best always comes from a loving mom.
Seasonal delicacies, such as young bamboo shoots, chunks of pork belly, cured pork slices, firm tofu sheets and premium yellow rice wine, are put together in one clay pot for hours of simmering.
Xian is a taste unique to China and hard to find in Western food.
Similar to umami, it's subtler and often achieved by quickly cooking fresh seafood or slowly boiling meat and bones from poultry.
Lanzhou hand-pulled noodles（兰州拉面）
The flagship halal dish from China, hand-pulled noodles hail from the wild, sandy lands of northwest China.
Each bowl is as much handicraft as hearty meal.
In what's usually a makeshift open kitchen, formidable Islamic noodle masters beat, fold and pull a flour-based dough, turning it into hair-thin noodles faster than most people can decide what to order.