Qingtian develops a taste for Western cuisine

HANGZHOU — A line had already formed by 10 am outside a restaurant named La Vita in Italia in Qingtian county, East China's Zhejiang province. Tourists from across China waited patiently for a bite of its famed pizza quattro stagioni, a traditional Italian pizza topped with four different flavors.

While many Chinese cities are tapping into local specialties to draw visitors, Qingtian, nestled in rolling mountains, is betting on croissants, cappuccinos and carbonara. And it is a wager that is proving a winner. The county, with fewer than 200,000 permanent residents, now hosts more than 100 Western-style bakeries and restaurants.

Local data reveal that Qingtian consumes over 2 million portions of steak and more than 120 metric tons of coffee beans every year.

Qingtian's rise to a hot spot for Western cuisine started with the county's long history of emigration. The county is the hometown of about 381,000 overseas Chinese people living in over 140 countries and regions, many of whom are based in Europe.

For generations, Qingtian emigrants have carved out careers in Europe's restaurant scene, working as chefs, waiters and business owners. Now, many are returning home, bringing with them the best flavors and dining concepts from the countries where they have lived — ranging from Italian pastas and Spanish tapas to French pastries and specialty coffee culture.

Yang Haijie, owner of La Vita in Italia, is one of them. He left for Italy in 1997 and worked in the culinary sector there for many years before returning to Qingtian to open his own Italian restaurant. This restaurant has quickly become a local hit.

"In most places in China, Western-style food mainly appeals to younger consumers. But in Qingtian, it's loved by everyone, from the elderly to young children," Yang said. "It's common to see families dining together in Western-style restaurants here."

For Yang, a key reason behind Qingtian's Western food boom lies in the growing reach of international logistics, which now enables chefs in Qingtian to source fresh and authentic ingredients from around the world with ease — allowing them to recreate European flavors thousands of miles away.

The returning overseas Chinese community is serving as a bridge bringing more foreign ingredients and products to Qingtian. The county has been hosting the Overseas Chinese Imported Commodities Expo since 2018 to promote its trade industry and introduce high-quality global products to the Chinese market.

However, this county is not just copying Western-style food. Chefs in Qingtian are now also experimenting with bold fusions, such as pizzas topped with local preserved vegetables.

In recent years, local authorities in Qingtian have been rolling out supportive policies to nurture the Western cuisine industry. The county has established 11 training centers and designed training programs in fields such as coffee brewing, pastry making and wine tasting to foster talent, according to Chen Junyi, deputy director of the county's Western cuisine industry development center.

"Anyone who wants to learn about Western cuisine can come to Qingtian," Chen said, adding that Qingtian aims to cultivate more talent to help take Western-style food to more places in China.

Xinhua