I have several Chinese cookbooks and this is, by far, the best Chinese cookbook I have. The dishes are delicious and the recipes are easy to follow. My mother, who is Chinese, gave me this cookbook when I first started cooking Chinese food and it is still my favorite. I absolutely love it and have tried almost every recipe in the book. I have tried other recipes from different Chinese cookbooks and they just don't hold up next to this one...my husband can attest to that. This is a cookbook for the true novice, a 5th grader could follow the recipes with ease.