City has a taste that's all its own

Century-old restaurant offers many specialties under one roof

During China's most important holiday, Spring Festival, many residents of Wuxi used to visit Chong'an Temple and have a bowl of wonton at Wangxingji, a time-honored restaurant.

Though customs change as time goes by, the restaurant is still one of the locals' favorite places when they want to taste specialties.

The founder of Wangxingji, Wang Ting'an (1891-1965), opened his first restaurant with borrowed money in 1913. The restaurant served only wonton and noodles, and had just one oven and two and a half tables.

Because the food was delicious, by 1932 Wang's restaurant became the most popular one in the Chong'an Temple area. It now receives more than 2 million guests from home and abroad every year and offers many kinds of dim sum.

"In 2006, we began to serve dishes other than dim sum to customers. You can taste all the famous Wuxi specialties, both dim sum - bite-sized, steamed Cantonese foods - and dishes, at Wangxingji," said Xue Qiang, general manager of Wangxingji. "After I tasted Wangxingji's mini steamed soup dumplings, I never wanted to try other restaurants.

"Some Wuxi specialties, such as sauce ribs and silver fish, are so famous all over the country that tourists won't miss it when they travel to the city."

Li Zhenghua, an experienced chef who has been working at Wangxingji for 35 years, said that one of the characteristics of Wuxi cuisine is its delicate use of sugar in dishes.

"By adding the proper amount of sugar, the best flavor of the dishes can be brought out," Li said. "We also invented dishes that contain less sugar for people with diabetes and those who dislike a sweet flavor."

"Some people from other provinces sometimes argue that the dishes in Wuxi are too sweet," said Xu Qiaomeng, a gourmet professor at the Wuxi Institute of Commerce. "But the sweet flavor in Wuxi dishes is not simply from sugar. It also comes from soy sauce and other seasonings that taste much better than sugar itself."

Wangxingji has opened restaurants in Japan and the United States, and it is negotiating with companies from Singapore and Hong Kong that want to bring Wuxi cuisine to the locals.

"Unlike some other restaurants, Wangxingji doesn't change its flavor during its expansion," said Xue. "We believe that remaining true to our characteristics is the best way to develop."

Zhou Yuanxiu, a woman in her 30s who works in neighboring Suzhou, said she always goes to Wangxingji when she comes back to Wuxi.

"I also bring some food from Wangxingji to Suzhou when the holiday finishes," said Zhou. "It's what my hometown tastes like."