I grew up in a smallish city with only one semi-authentic Chinese restaurant and a Chinese family friend who ran an Asian grocery. She recommended this cookbook to my mother, who then cooked for our family from it.I have to say that I am spoiled to the day. So many of the recipes in here are much better than what you'd get at 99% of any typical Chinese restaurant. I now live in one of the largest cities in the U.S. and it's still hard for me to find food as good as this.