A report by a local major food delivery service has found that preferred orders differ across the nation's regions.

According to delivery service Meituan-Dianping, people in Shanghai and neighboring Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces like to order fried chicken the most.

This is very different from Guangdong province in the south and Beijing in the north, where local specialty dim sum and Beijing dishes topped the rankings.

Some residents attributed the findings to the Shanghainese love for fried food.

Zhou Wenshu, who works with a multinational corporation and has to work overtime a lot, orders fried chicken from food delivery apps often as an energy recharge.

"It's just so crispy and tender. Just indulge in the wonderful mouthfeel and forget calories," said the 29-year-old.

Jiang Jian, a 32-year-old IT engineer in Shanghai, said, "Perhaps it's also because of the strong influence of Western fast food and South Korean soap operas."

A food delivery worker with eleme.com in the Central Business District in Shanghai said he gets off work at 10 pm every day, and usually those working overtime order pizza and fried chicken after 8 pm.

"I think it's related to the heavy workload in Shanghai. Fried chicken is quicker and easier to eat compared to, say, noodles and wontons," said the worker, who only gave his surname Song.

The report also found that the three northeastern provinces－Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang－were the top three for breakfast orders.

Internet users kidded that the residents are passing on the pain of getting up in the freezing morning to the delivery drivers.

When it comes to late night snacks, nine out of the top 10 cities are in Fujian and Guangdong provinces, which is consistent with the eating habits of people in those regions, according to the report.