In addition to the on-campus cafeteria at the Weihai campus, there are a few restaurants located near campus in Jianghu Dayuan, near the beach and at nearby hotels. Most restaurants typically serve seafood, Northeast Chinese dishes, Southwest Chinese dishes, and Shandong food. The hotel located on campus does offer some limited American dishes like burgers or pasta.
A popular way for students to order food is through an online ordering group via WeChat. This is used by a large population of students on campus to order food to be delivered from Nanhai and Wendeng which have more restaurant options.
If students wish to buy groceries, the campus cafeteria has a grocery window and there are two small fruit shops located on campus. Jiajayue supermarket is located 1.8 miles off campus, three additional supermarkets about 3 miles from campus and a larger supermarket about 5 miles from campus.
There are many different styles of Chinese cuisine which can vary based on region. Eight of these cuisines are outlined below. The Shandong cuisine is most commonly found in Weihai.
Guangdong Cuisine (Cantonese Food/Yue Cuisine): sweeter, favoring braising and stewing, adding various sauces.
Sichuan Cuisine (Chuan Cuisine): spicy and bold, using lots of chili, garlic, ginger and peanuts.
Shandong Cuisine (Lu Cuisine): salty and crispy, favoring braising and seafood.
Fujian Cuisine (Min Cuisine): lighter, with a sweet and sour taste, using ingredients from the sea and the mountains.
Jiangsu Cuisine (Su Cuisine): fresh, salty and sweet, favoring soups and precise cooking techniques.
Hunan Cuisine (Xiang Cuisine): quite spicy, favors sautéing, stir-frying, steaming and smoking.
Anhui Cuisine (Hui Cuisine): uses many wild plants and animals as ingredients, favoring stewing and more oil.
Zhejiang Cuisine (Zhe Cuisine): mellow, uses freshwater fish, seafood and bamboo shoots, and a wide variety of cooking methods.