SUMMER is the season to enjoy cold dishes, and cold noodles are among the easiest dishes to prepare in the hot weather.

Cold noodle dishes in China are served as mains rather than as starter salads like the pasta salad in the Western cuisine. Making cold noodles takes only five to 10 minutes if the sauce is already made.

There are several classic variations of cold noodle dishes across China that use different kinds of noodles, sauces and toppings. The trick to a successful bowl of cold noodles of any kind is to keep the noodles crisp and avoid starchiness and stickiness.

For those who love hot chilies and Sichuan peppercorns, the Sichuan style cold noodle is the go-to summer dish. Traditional Sichuan cold noodles calls for noodles made with baking soda, which helps to prevent the noodles from breaking apart and makes them chewier as well.

The noodles are boiled in hot water until they are roughly 80 percent done. Then they are spread out so they can cool down.

The classic toppings are mung bean sprouts, which adds a fresh crunchiness to compliment the noodles and tender chicken breast cooked in boiling water and then shredded.

Minced garlic paste is the must-have ingredient for the sauce, which consists of minced ginger paste, chopped green onions, peppercorn powder, vinegar and soy sauce mixed together in the homemade hot chili oil, which is cooked with small red chili peppers called chao tian jiao in rapeseed oil and sesame oil seasoned by peppercorns, star anise, green onion, garlic and ginger.

The correct layering of Sichuan cold noodles is to place the chilled noodles at the bottom of the bowl, add the mung bean sprouts in the middle and chicken on top, and pour in the hot sauce when serving the dish. One can also add shredded cucumber and radish.

Be generous with the vinegar and sugar, the sweet and sour taste is the highlight of Sichuan cold noodles. Local people use traditional Baoning vinegar, which is flavored black vinegar brewed with rice and a number of different herbs and spices.

Sesame paste cold noodles is the traditional Beijing style dish that uses a much simpler combination of ingredients.

The most important part is the sesame paste, which must be freshly grounded using pure sesame seeds. Good quality sesame paste often has a layer of sesame oil floating on top.

Garlic is an indispensable part of the dish. The sesame paste cold noodles uses both minced garlic paste and thinly chopped garlics.

To balance the rich flavors of the sesame paste, light rice vinegar and peppercorn oil are added in the sauce.

Unlike most cold noodles that come with three or four kinds of vegetable or meat toppings, sesame paste cold noodles only calls for shredded cucumber as the fresh taste works perfectly with the chewy noodles and rich sauce.

Starting in mid-June, Shanghai style cold noodles are served at most traditional local restaurants like Meixin Snacks, Wang Jiasha and Dahuchun, and the lines during lunch hours are often very long.

The biggest difference between Shanghai style cold noodles and the Sichuan or Beijing style is that the noodles are steamed instead of boiled in water.

The sauce is made with peanut butter or a combination of peanut butter and sesame paste with vinegar, sesame oil and some chili oil.

Most restaurants offer an array of toppings for guests to choose from like wheat gluten, pork shreds, shiitake mushrooms or spicy pork.

The lesser-known Xinjiang cold noodles uses a unique, yellow-colored noodle and a plant called Halogeton arachnoideus.

The noodles are cooked in boiling water and chilled in cold water twice. Typical toppings include zucchini, egg, spinach and celery and the sauce is mixed with hot chili oil, minced garlic paste, sesame paste and vinegar.

You mian or oat noodles is a common dish in northwestern China. The noodles are made with the nutritious and fiber rich oat flour and can be steamed or stir-fried.

In summer, the oat noodles are prepared as cold dishes as well with a spicy and sour sauce with seasonal vegetables. The dish is often served with a bowl of mutton soup.

Buckwheat noodle, which is also called soba noodle in Japan, is another popular noodle made of grain and cereal. The more common Japanese cold soba noodle is lighter in taste, while the Chinese version of cold buckwheat noodle is mainly eaten in Shaanxi and Shanxi provinces where they are spicier and richer in taste.

In summer, the buckwheat noodles are first cooked in boiling water, chilled in cold water and then topped with a typical sauce of vinegar, salt, garlic, sesame paste and hot chili oil.

Naengmyeon is the Korean style cold noodle dish served with a chilled broth.

The cold noodle soup is mostly slow-cooked beef soup set aside to cool down. After cooking the soba noodles in boiling water, they are chilled using an electric fan or cold water.

When serving the dish, the noodle is topped with a few slices of beef, a garlic flavored hot sauce, egg, cucumber and radish.

In the city of Jixi, Heilongjiang Province, the cold noodle soup is cooked with a simpler broth made with water, soy sauce and various seasonings instead of the rich beef broth.

But the toppings are more diverse, in addition to the traditional kimchi, vegetables, beef and even seafood can be added in the dish. The Jixi cold noodle soup also emphasizes a spicy taste.