That's like asking what real "European" food is like. American Chinese food is loosely based on the food from where most early Chinese immigrants were from (Fujian), adapted to new ingredients and new tastes. There really isn't a unified "Chinese food" to describe.

There isn't one Chinese cuisine, it is regional. I'd recommend going for a place that says they're Hunan rather than Chinese if you want authentic stuff.

Also think that the inauthentic stuff isn't necessarily bad, just that you should try to expand your horizons when it comes to flavour other than the stuff that has been made to be palatable to Americans.

Chinese Cooking Demystified is a great channel that goes over tons of different regional recipes. Most dishes look pretty dang easy to make too, provided that you have a wok and a good Asian Supermarket that you can visit.

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I gotcha fam. Gonna make a post referencing real Chinese food by region.

Some Chinese friends once made some “real” Chinese food for me. It was cubes of tofu covered in spice and fucking AWESOME.