A bowl of Zhajiangmian at a Beijing restaurant. Salesof Zhajiangmian, a Chinese style black bean saucewith noodles, potatoes and vegetable, are brisk afterUnited States Vice-President Joe Biden and hisentourage ordered the dish at a small restaurant duringtheir recent visit to Beijing.
BEIJING - "No visit to China is complete if you miss dining on Chinese food," said Carlos Irlan, avisitor from the United Kingdom enjoying his deep-fried dumplings in Wangfujing food alley indowntown Beijing.
Located in Dongcheng district, the alley is one of the most well-known and prosperous foodstreets in Beijing. It packs various kinds of Chinese food ranging from xiaolongbao (traditionalsteamed dumplings originating from Shanghai) and roast duck to deep-fried insects, star fishand scorpions, often threaded alive on skewers.
Carlos' favorite is deep-fried scorpion, a crunchy and novel delicacy for most Westerners. Hisfriend Alice Warren chooses a more traditional dish - Peking roast duck. "I've had roast duckseveral times in the United States but, as my friend said, Quanjude Peking Roast Duck is thetastiest I've ever eaten," she said.
The Beijing-headquartered Quanjude (Group) Co Ltd enjoys an international reputation for itsspecial roasting technique. The crisp and juicy grain-fed duck attracts both overseas andChinese consumers to its restaurants throughout the world every day.
In Quanjude's Hepingmen restaurant in the Xuanwu district of Beijing, a duck is wheeled in on atrolley, and a chef expertly carves it in front of the guests while a waitress places a bamboosteamer full of pancakes on the table. When the duck, neatly sliced, is served, the waitressshows the customers how to eat it.
"Heaven! It is so delicious!" Joyce Jiang, a student from Griffith University, in Queensland,Australia, commented. "It melts in the mouth."
"Foreign tourists like traditional Chinese food most," said Zhao Guofu, who runs a food stall inWangfujing food alley. Zhao cited an old saying: The more things are traditional in a country,the more they are international. "Now I can tell it's really true. I sell at least 50 bowls of beanpaste cake in just half a day of business."
According to the China Cuisine Association, the annual retail sales of China's catering industrynow amount to about 2 trillion yuan ($313 million). In Beijing's Quanjude Roast DuckHepingmen restaurant alone, for example, the sales amounted to nearly 685,000 yuan a dayon average last year. Many of the customers are from overseas and include travelers andthose who live and work in the capital city.
Foreigners living in Beijing now number about 170,000, making up more than 1 percent of thecity's population, according to Beijing municipal government statistics. Given that the number isgrowing, it represents a huge potential for the Chinese catering market.
Chinese food is famous for its great variety and the delicate combination of color, aroma andtaste, representing Chinese cultural traditions, agricultural customs and geographicalconditions. To many foreign tourists, Chinese food is very appealing. It excites curiosity aboutthe origins and the meaning, even the procedure, for making the dishes and leads them toinquire about China's extensive and lively history.
Chinese traditional foods are integral to modern Chinese society and continue to inspire theworld. After US Vice-President Joe Biden's recent visit to Beijing, sales of zhajiangmian noodles,which Biden and his entourage ordered, are surging in Beijing restaurants. The dish is nowknown as "Biden's set" and aroused international media interest.
"Next time I'm in Beijing, I'll try Biden's set for lunch! Can't wait!" a Western netizen said on theChina Daily website.
Sheldon, a character from popular US TV series "Big Bang Theory", eats Chinese tangerinechicken every Saturday. Many of his fans now order the dish in Chinese restaurants. ForChinese food, it seems the only way is up.
In addition, the State Food and Drug Administration is planing to use cartoon faces - smiling orunhappy - to grade restaurants and delis based on the evaluation of their food safetyconditions, said a Xinhua report on Sunday.
The smiling face will represent excellent, the straight face means good and the unhappy faceindicates average, according the draft which is currently opening for public opinions.
The grading will be based on evaluations on food safety factors ranging from environment,facilities, food materials, processing, to food additive and tableware disinfection, according tothe draft, the report said.
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