well,it depends on where ur friend comes from.we have mainly 8 famous Chinese cuisines: Shandong cuisine, Sichuan cuisine,Guangdong cuisine,Fujian cuisine,Jiangsu cuisine,Zhejiang cuisine,Hunan cuisine and Anhui cuisine .I'll give you the most typical dishes of each cuisine and the area where the cuisine is favored. Shandong cuisine(north eastern china):fried pork joint锅烧肘子 sichuan cuisine (southwest):hot fish fragrant shredded pork 鱼香肉丝 guangdong cuisine (southeast):Wenchang chicken文昌鸡 fujian cuisine (to the north of guangdong):Buddha jumping over the wall佛跳墙 jiangsu(to the north of fujian):poached chilled duck with pepper corn 盐水鸭 zhejiang (to the south of jiangsu):stewed spring bamboo shoots with soysauce油焖春笋 hunan(central china):chicken cubes with chilli peppers 辣子鸡丁 anhui(to the north of hunan):smoked duck无为熏鸭