I am planning a last minute trip to China and am looking for some guidance on the regional differences in country. I know for sure I will be headed to Shanghai, but am wondering if I should visit other areas. I am interested in traveling to places that are in the midst of modernization and want to gain a sense of the changes that have occured in eating and drinking. Can anyone help me understand the difference between Chengdou, Beijing and Guangzhou. Which would be the best counterpoint to Shanghai?

That's an interesting question. All the cities you mentioned are experiencing tremendous growth, with lots of new developments - new hotels, new restaurants, etc...

As far as food is concerned, the regional flavors are quite different in the places you mentioned. I am Cantonese, so I am partial to Cantonese food - which you can get in Guangzhou.

Chengdu is the capital of Sichuan province, so if you're interested in their type of spicy food, it's the place to go.

I am not very fond of Beijing food, but being the national capital you can also get excellent regional cuisine from all around China there.

Having said that, you may not find too much contrast among those cities in terms of dining choices. I am sure you can get pretty good Beijing, Sichuan or Cantonese food in nice restaurants in Shanghai anyways.

For the sense of rapid modernization, besides Shanghai, Beijing is the place to visit in China. And there are much more interesting things to see.

About food and drink, you would find more varities in Beijing than in Guangzhou or Chenghou as both cities catering to more regional tastes.

The New York Times published an extensive and helpful review of Shanghai restaurants some weeks ago - I'm not sure whether it's accessible free or now archived, in which case you'd have to pay for it, but it would be worth checking out (www.nytimes.com). I think it was written by R. W. Apple Jr.

From this Westerner's viewpoint Cantonese has a deserved reputation as the finest of the regional cuisines, but Shanghainese and Sichuanese are not to be sneered at.

In case your question regarding city differences was meant to take in more than food, Beijing is a considerable contrast to Shanghai. I haven't been to Guangzhou, but opinions I've read suggest that it has relatively little to attract a non-business traveller. Beijing offers much in terms of Chinese history and culture and shouldn't be missed. It's also a good city to just wander around.

Shanghai is a relatively young city but being interested in modern Chinese history I enjoyed my time there and took the opportunity to check out places like the small museum in the house where the first national meeting of the CCP was held and the former houses of Dr Sun Yatsen and Zhou Enlai.

I recommend buying a good guidebook to get the most from your visit.

Offhand it seems Beijing would be your best bet - esp with the hutongs changing, etc. Maybe you should post this question on The Oriental List. Guangzhou is really simply an industrialized city tho I know many who swear by the food - Stan Sesser did an inetresting article recently on Guangzhou food for the AWSJ Personal Journal.