The Zagats make an interesting observation on the lack of authentic regional Chinese cuisine. Can immigration issues really account for the dearth of choices?
Getting to know regional cuisines of any country through restaurants here is a gamble. In Eating Beyond Sichuan Nina and Tim Zagat (yes, those Zagats) describe one of the reasons why Americans will find so few authentic representatives of Chinese regional dishes. They link the nearly uniformly disappointing Chinese restaurant offerings to difficulties obtaining visas for chefs.
While they offer examples of restaurantuers who could not open because chefs were unable to gain legal working papers, I cannot imagine this is the entire story. They readily admit the access to authentic ingredients is no longer the barrier, but why would Chinese dishes be more difficult to recreate than say, Japanese? Outside of New York City and the West Coast, one scarcely finds a Japanese chef in the US. Have I offered my own complaints of yet another Chinese, Korean "sushi chefs"? Sure. Yet one still can get pretty decent approximations of Japanese dishes, beyond sushi and sometimes even including it, in many places.
Are regional Italian dishes coming only from chefs from Tuscany, Sicily or Veneto? Still we are learning, albeit slowly, that all Italian food is not the same.
I see no reason why Americans and others outside of China, cannot learn about regional cuisines of China. There are eight traditions, including: Hunan, Sichuan and Cantonese which many of us are familiar with. In addition, the Zagats name: Anhui, Fujian, Jiangu, Shandong, and Zhejiang.
As with other cuisines, Chinese regional cuisines are driven both by ingredients to be found (Where wheat grows, you'll find more noodles; coastal areas, more fish) and by history. Ingredients often find their way into a country's cuisine through wars, religious sojourners and explorers.
I remember when I had to unlearn and re-learn what Cantonese food was about. And some of the best dumplings I've had (next to Mom's gyoza) were in Toronto, where the chef/owner showed me the place on a wall map where she was from. How fitting the name of the shop was Mother's Dumplings.
If you want to begin learning about regional Chinese cuisine: you could begin with a primersuch as this one on Epicurious. I also recommend cookbooks. I found a great, basic cookbook once that includes photos and phonetic descriptions of a host of ingredients. Bonus: the cover was attached upside down so I got it for a song!
Finally, if you are near a Chinatown either in your city or in your travels, you will no doubt find good, accurate exemplars of at least one or two regional cuisines. Find a place that's good and ask questions. Like a good butcher or fishmonger, a good waiter or maitre d' is often glad to be a cultural ambassador too. The world awaits.
