If there are no chinese living in the area/town, they are not pandering to a chinese clientele but an american one. Which is why all you have is Americanized "chinese" food. Make no mistake, if the cook immigrated from china, the cook knows how to cook authentic dishes, but at the restaurant that is not what they sell or put on the menu. It might help to get to know the cook/manager, then ask if they can cook something more authentic (but you should probably know what these dishes you want are, beforehand, and the restaurant has to have the right ingredients around too).