Each Chinese province has a character which serves as its abbreviation. For example, the abbreviation for Hunan is 湘 (xiang1). Usually this character serves as the symbol for that province's cuisine as well. The character used to denote "cuisine" is 菜 (cai4). Therefore, Hunan food is commonly referred to as 湘菜 (xiang1 cai4). The following is a list of common subdivisons of Chinese food and the characters which are associated with them.