Why is Huai'an the "World's Gourmet Capital"?

Why is Huai'an the "World's Gourmet Capital"?

Why is Huai'an the "World's Gourmet Capital"? Huai'an is an important birthplace and inheritance place of Huaiyang cuisine. It has previously been awarded titles such as "Hometown of Huaiyang Cuisine in China" and "Famous Food City in China". Why is Huai'an the "World's Gourmet Capital"? Why is Huai'an a "World City of Gastronomy" 1

UNESCO announced on the 8th that Huai'an, Jiangsu Province, was selected as a "Global Creative City Network-City of Gastronomy", joining Chengdu in Sichuan, Shunde in Guangdong, and After Macau and Jiangsu Yangzhou, it is the fifth city in China to be selected. So far, the "Huai" and "Yang" of Huaiyang cuisine have joined the ranks of the "World Food Capitals".

Huai'an is one of the main birthplaces and inheritance places of Huaiyang cuisine. In 2017, Huai'an launched the process of applying for UNESCO's "Global Creative Cities Network - City of Gastronomy".

Huaian has a profound food culture and has rich and high-quality ingredients such as hairy crabs, gorgon seeds, and cattail. Statistics show that there are more than 1,300 classic Huaiyang dishes in Huai'an, and the cooking techniques of 298 dishes have been selected into the Jiangsu provincial intangible cultural heritage list. As of the end of 2020, Huai'an has more than 40,000 restaurants of various types, employing more than 250,000 people, and annual catering sales reached 21 billion yuan. There are 10 colleges and universities in the city offering cooking majors, which have trained more than 100,000 intermediate and senior chefs, and there are currently 120 national-level "cooking masters".

As one of the four major cuisines in China, Huaiyang cuisine has long been a household name in China. In 2017, Yangzhou, Jiangsu, which also belongs to the Huaiyang Cuisine Area, was selected as the "World Culinary Capital". Huai'an's selection this time means that the two cities of Jiangsu on the "tip of the tongue" will further go to the world with the "Huaiyang taste".

As one of the eight major plans of the "Overseas Chinese Catering Project", the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council launched the "Chinese Food Prosperity Plan" in order to enhance and innovate the level and level of the overseas Chinese catering industry, and utilize The influence of Chinese food culture promotes Chinese food culture and enhances the development of friendly relations between China and other countries around the world. In 2016, the first "Chinese Food Prosperity Base of the Overseas Benefiting Overseas Chinese Project" was settled at Yangzhou University, and Huaiyang cuisine became the "vanguard" of the "Chinese Food Prosperity Plan".

Xu Zhihao, deputy director of the Huai'an Municipal Commerce Bureau, said that after becoming the "World Culinary Capital", Huai'an will better inherit and promote Huaiyang cuisine culture on a global scale and promote the Huaiyang cuisine industry to become a distinctive food industry. We will transform and upgrade to internationalization and internationalization, and deeply explore the food elements of literature, film and television works, and promote a closer and deeper integration of food with tourism, culture and creativity.

“Huaiyang cuisine is China’s gift to the world.” Yu Xuerong, president of the Jiangsu Catering Association, believes that Huaiyang cuisine focuses on freshness, mild taste, health and nutrition. China's Yangzhou and Huai'an have been selected as the "World Culinary Capital", which can better promote Huaiyang food culture and allow more diners to understand and appreciate Huaiyang cuisine. Why is Huai'an a "World Capital of Gastronomy" 2

The UNESCO Creative Cities Network is a platform that brings together cities around the world that rely on creativity as the basis for development. The creative fields include handicrafts and folk art, design, film, Food, literature, media arts, music and more. After five years of unremitting efforts, Huaian successfully joined the UNESCO Creative Cities Network and won a dazzling international business card.

Huai'an is an important birthplace and inheritance place of Huaiyang cuisine. It has previously been awarded titles such as "Hometown of Huaiyang Cuisine in China" and "Famous Food City in China".

There is a profound cultural heritage here. Huaiyang cuisine originated in the Spring and Autumn Period and flourished in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. It is the benchmark cuisine for the "First Banquet of the Founding of the People's Republic of China". There are more than 1,300 kinds of famous dishes and snacks in Huai'an, and 298 are selected as provincial intangible cultural heritage, which is the most among all districts and cities in the country.

There is a solid industrial foundation here. The 100-billion-level food industry has been included in the 13 industrial clusters created by the province's "14th Five-Year Plan" and given key support. There are currently 127 national geographical indication certification trademarks, ranking among the top in the country. The catering industry currently has more than 40,000 stores, more than 250,000 employees, and annual sales of 21 billion yuan.

There are high-quality human resources here. There are 10 colleges and universities offering cooking majors, which have trained more than 100,000 intermediate and senior chefs. There are currently 120 national-level "cooking masters" and more than 30 cooking master studios and intangible cultural heritage food studios.

There is an excellent ecological environment here. The city is intertwined with rivers and lakes and is rich in products. The water area accounts for about 1/4 of the city. It is known as the "city floating on the water" and is rich in green food such as crayfish, whitebait, crabs, gorgon seeds, and cattail.

In 2017, Huai'an launched its bid to become a "World City of Food". Focusing on the purpose of the Creative City Network and adhering to the concept of "people's food, people's enjoyment", Huai'an has gone through a five-year process of bid.

Over the past five years, Huaian has deepened international exchanges and promoted mutual learning among civilizations. We went to the UNESCO headquarters to hold the Huaiyang Food Appreciation Fair, and went to more than 20 countries and regions to promote food, and deepened exchanges with the "City of Food" cities through "going out", "inviting in" and "cloud interaction". At the most severe moment of the COVID-19 epidemic, we sent letters of condolences and donated masks and other epidemic prevention materials to 23 "Gourmet City" cities.

Over the past five years, Huaian has developed brand festivals to showcase the charm of gourmet food. The China (Huai'an) International Food Expo has been held for four consecutive years, and a series of activities such as the Huaiyang Cuisine Master Invitational Competition have been held. Create a "one county, one special" brand, hold Xuyi International Lobster Festival, Hongze Lake International Hairy Crab Festival, etc. every year, and spread them in more than 50 domestic and foreign media including People's Daily, CCTV, European Times, and Toutiao.

In the past five years, Huaian has focused on policy support and accelerated industrial development. Implementation opinions were issued to further accelerate the development of Huaiyang cuisine industry, and the municipal finance allocated 10 million yuan each year to support and guide the inheritance and innovation of food culture. A total of 112 innovative dishes have been developed, 62 famous gourmet restaurants have been launched, 45 leading catering companies have been cultivated, 40 cooking masters have been selected, and 16 special food and cultural blocks have been built.

In the past five years, Huai’an has practiced the concept of serving the people and promoted food to benefit the people. Promote the return of fishing to the lake, and realize the resettlement of 100,000 fishermen in Hongze Lake through food and employment. Promote lobster to enrich the people, take advantage of the Xuyi lobster brand value of 21.5 billion yuan, open more than 3,000 lobster chain stores, and 200,000 people in the city are engaged in related industries. Promote free tastings, benefiting more than 20,000 low-income residents every year.

Over the past five years, Huaian has explored cross-border integration and strengthened collaborative innovation. Food film and television works "Kimchi Falling in Love with Crayfish" and "Food Adventure" were filmed; the food novel "Going North" won the 10th Mao Dun Literary Award; food new media video "Gift to the World - Huaiyang Food" , won the 2019 Miami-America·China Television Arts Week Short Video Gold Award "Golden Pearl Award".

Today, as the world-renowned Chinese food culture continues to be inherited and developed, Huai'an has been selected as the "World Food Capital", which is not only conducive to further promoting Huai'an's long-standing food culture, but also conducive to promoting the international exchange of Huaiyang food. , allowing more and more people to feel Huai'an's rich cultural heritage and unique urban charm. Why Huai'an is the "World's Gourmet Capital" 3

The future is promising

Huai'an has more "food" power

"The World's Gourmet Capital" is the first , adding new running goals and motivation to Huai'an. Huai'an will follow the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and actively promote the purpose of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network to take root in Huai'an.

Unswervingly deepen international cooperation. Huai'an will better inherit and promote Huaiyang cuisine culture on a global scale, strengthen exchanges with cities such as Ostersund in Sweden, Gaziantep in Turkey, Portoviejo in Ecuador, and Burgos in Spain to discuss the future Establish sister city relationships.

Unswervingly implement the national strategy. Huai'an will better promote the transformation and upgrading of the Huaiyang cuisine industry into a characteristic and international one, launch a nationwide promotion of high-quality Huaiyang cuisine, invite some representatives of overseas institutions in China, overseas Chinese leaders, and celebrities in the food and catering industry to participate in precise publicity and promotion Huai'an's characteristic food culture, explore the construction of Huaiyang Cuisine Industrial Park, and further expand the scale of the food industry.

Unswervingly fulfill international commitments. Huaian will promote the smooth development of various activities organized by the Creative Cities Network, and better promote food and cultural exchanges and exhibitions, academic research, talent training, and industrial cooperation to achieve win-win results; it will actively cooperate with UNESCO Headquarters and the Creative Cities Network Secretariat to carry out assistance projects in underdeveloped areas.

Unswervingly practice good food to benefit the people. Huaian will deeply explore the gastronomic elements of literary, film and television works, accelerate the collection and production of creative food derivative products, and promote a closer and more in-depth integration of food with tourism, culture and creativity; accelerate the construction of Yuquan and Hexia Ancient Town food districts to gather together a Approval of Huai'an specialty food brands will form a window to display Huaiyang food culture, promote the healthy development of food culture and food industry, and enhance citizens' sense of gain.