Nation has right ingredients for culinary success

A school trip by 11 children from the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region to the chilly north last month has unwittingly opened the nation's eyes to homegrown food products assumed to be specialty imports.

Dressed in bright orange puffer jackets to shield themselves from the cold in Harbin, Heilongjiang province, the children, ages 3 to 6, attracted media attention and were dubbed the "Little Sugar Oranges".

Seizing on the publicity opportunity, the Guangxi regional government sent locally grown sugar oranges to Harbin as a gesture of gratitude. In return, Heilongjiang generously sent 100,000 boxes of fresh cranberries to the region.

Many Chinese netizens were surprised to learn that Heilongjiang produced cranberries, triggering an online hunt for specialty foods grown and produced in China.

From caviar originating from Zhejiang province's Qiandao Lake to crabs from the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region and grain-fed beef produced in Dalian, Liaoning province, they found a plethora of culinary gems.

Thanks to advances in farming and agricultural technology, China's food producers are also trying out new production areas. Olive oil from Wudu district in Longnan, Gansu province, for example, is not only sold around the world, but has also won gold medals in international produce contests. And wine from Shangri-La in Yunnan province recently topped wine critic James Suckling's China Top 100 Wines 2023 list.

High-end products such as foie gras and caviar are also gradually breaking through geographical and price barriers and reaching ordinary people's dining tables.

Last month, the online platform Taobao shared a report on hidden local specialties. Gansu and the Inner Mongolia autonomous region are now churning out white shrimps, while Anhui, Sichuan, Yunnan and Fujian provinces are becoming known for their whiskeys, the report said.