Tasting Guangzhou: food tourism to drive rural revitalization

The first Guangzhou village gourmet gathering kicked off alongside the launching ceremony of the Zengcheng Cantonese cuisine workshop last Friday, attracting more than 30,000 tourists, people.cn recently reported.

With the theme of food tourism, the three-day event was held in Zengcheng district of Guangzhou. It presented tasty treats famous in Guangzhou, including wontons, sweet taro cake, tasty sticky rice noodles, and mouth-watering tortoise jelly.

There were nine other exhibitions, with stalls for local business and investment, agricultural and sideline products, folk custom, and farming culture also set up during the event.

The event has not only increased people’s understanding of Guangzhou gourmet, but also created a new driving force for local development.

An official from Zhengguo town said that hosting the event was a significant step for the local government in realizing rural revitalization. He added that the area will take the opportunity to build its own brand to elevate local tourism.

Set up on Dec. 14, 2018, the second Cantonese cuisine workshop in Guangdong focuses on popularizing local gourmet food and teaching cooking skills.

“Zhengguo town has a profound culinary culture and rich ingredients. I believe that by setting up the second workshop here, they will build it into a new platform to boost rural revitalization of Zengcheng district,” said an official from the Tourism Administration of Guangzhou Municipality.

While building the platform, Guangzhou also rolled out a new educational food project, called Cantonese Cuisine Chef.

“The project serves as an innovative approach to rural revitalization and inheritance of our food culture. It will benefit local people and bring new historical opportunities for food tourism in Guangdong,” the official said.

The official suggested that Guangzhou will now continue to develop food tourism through diversified modes to create more job opportunities, lead local people towards prosperity, and expand domestic and overseas influence of their food culture.