Efforts underway to develop Datong's food culture

A forum that gathered officials, experts, gourmets, and restaurant owners to explore new ways of promoting the delicacies and tourism of Shanxi province's Datong city concluded on Jan 25.

The city last year made considerable efforts to develop itself into a "city of gastronomy", voting for the most popular local snacks, dishes and restaurants, along with filming videos on the history of food, eating and cooking in Datong, and launching a gourmet gala in September.

A number of thought leaders have been invited to visit local restaurants and use live streaming to promote their dishes since Jan 12, reaching 43 million hits on Yizhibo, one of the biggest live-streaming platforms in China.

Zeng Bowei, an expert with the World Tourism Cities Federation, points out that Datong needs to identity its trademark dish.

"When we talk about Anhui cuisine, the dish chouguiyu (or pungent mandarin fish) will come to people's minds; for Sichuan cuisine, mapo tofu; for Beijing, roast duck," he says. "Why can't we give a name of a representative dish when we are talking about Datong?"

Zeng says to further promote Datong's food culture, the city should dig out interesting stories of local dishes from history and standardize its catering industry.

Li Jianxin, deputy secretary-general of the National Tourism Reform and Development Advisory Committee added that opportunities could be provided for tourists to learn how to cook local snacks at restaurants and workshops, enriching their traveling experience in the city.

The forum also heard from a panel that included Beijing-based gourmet Dong Keping, professor Yang Honghao from the China Tourism Academy, and Liu Tianbei, chief editor of China National Travel, discussing the role of food in fueling the tourism development of Datong city.