Between October 28 and November 3, the 2019 "Chinese Cuisine" Art Festival and 
Sichuan Cuisine Innovation and Development Conference will be held in the city 
of Meishan in Sichuan Province. The conference is sponsored by the People's 
Government of Meishan. Dongpo cuisine, as one of the signatures of Sichuan 
cuisine, is slated to take center stage.

The event sponsor has revealed that this event will host a plethora of 
activities such as the Meishan Dongpo Cuisine Symposium, "Chinese Cuisine" and 
Sichuan Cuisine Industry Innovation and Development Summit, "Chinese Cuisine" 
Dongpo Cuisine Tasting Banquet, "Taste of Meishan" Culinary Exploration, a 
gastronomic carnival for the public, and numerous tours and exchanges.

Sichuan cuisine has always been an emblem of the top echelon of Chinese 
gastronomic sophistication. In the eyes of most people, the profile of Sichuan 
cuisine is noted for its numbness, spiciness, heat and fragrance, but in 
reality, Sichuan cuisine has a common repertoire of 24 types of flavors, with 
even more wide-ranging preparation methods. The Chinese people, long been 
regarded for their culinary finesse, often use the phrase "one style to each 
dish, a hundred tastes in a hundred dishes" to praise the wonders of Sichuan 
cuisine. Of which, "Dongpo cuisine" is considered a paragon.

"Dongpo cuisine" was born in Meishan. This city sits on the magical latitude of 
30 degrees north, and is well-known since antiquity as a place blessed by 
copious produce, exemplified in its numerous titles such as "Home of Unique 
Chinese Agricultural Produce and Byproduct," "Home of High Quality Chinese 
Rice," and "Home of Chinese Pickled Vegetables". In addition, Meishan is famous 
as producer of the "soul of Sichuan cuisine" - Dongpo pickled vegetable and the 
"finishing touch of Sichuan cuisine" - the Hongya mastic-leaf prickly ash oil. 
In particular, the Dongpo pickled vegetable is treasured for its low salt 
content, crunchy texture and distinct flavor, and has been sold to more than 70 
nations and regions around the world including Europe, America, Japan and South 
Korea.

"Dongpo cuisine" is named after Su Dongpo (Su Shi), one of the most prominent 
and prolific literati of ancient China. As a Meishan native, Su Dongpo was 
revered for his literary prowess and has left the world a bevy of poems and 
songs that have been venerated for generations. But he was also a practitioner 
and disseminator of culinary theories and the Dongpo cuisine he invented is 
still thriving today.

From Dongpo pork shoulder and Dongpo pork to Dongpo fish and Dongpo bamboo 
shoot, these delicacies not only satisfy the taste buds, but are also flavors 
distilled through history. Meishan is one of the primary places of inheritance 
of "Dongpo cuisine," and not only has it been named one of the seven major 
culinary cities of China by some authoritative organization, but has also been 
recognized as the "Chinese city famous for Dongpo culinary culture" by the 
China Cuisine Association.

For over nine centuries, dozens of generations of Meishan people have inherited 
and developed Dongpo cuisine, gradually delving deeper, more refined, more 
intricate and more expansive. Take the Meizhou Dong Po Restaurant for example, 
after more than two decades of development, it has expanded into a behemoth 
with over 150 branches around the globe and more than 10,000 staffs, ascending 
as a leading enterprise that spearheads the international expansion of 
Sichuan-style food and catering. Meizhou Dong Po upholds the quintessence of 
Sichuan culinary traditions while incorporating the innovations of neo-Sichuan 
cuisine in order to enable diners to thoroughly revel in the charms of Sichuan 
food, thus it is no doubt the beset representative of Sichuan cuisine in 
Meishan. Just as founder Mr. Wang Gang once said, "one end of Dongpo cuisine is 
rooted in Meishan, and the other end is reaching the mouth of the world".

As a fertile soil for gastronomic delights, Meishan has also cultivated a score 
of culinary creators. According to incomplete statistics, there are some ten 
thousand Sichuan cuisine chefs with Meishan origin all over the world, and they 
can be found in all provinces and municipalities across China and most nations 
and regions around the globe. In September 2017, the China Cuisine Association 
honored Meishan with the title "Home of Sichuan Cuisine Chefs in China".

As of present, Meishan is home to approximately 10,000 food and catering 
organizations, and six unique food streets that amount to 10.5km in total 
length. In 2018, the food and catering industry of Meishan recorded RMB 9.258 
billion in total business income.

The prosperity of the food and catering market has been a powerful driver of 
growth in closely related businesses like the production and processing of raw 
materials, ingredients and condiments. In recent years, the city of Meishan has 
dedicated emphatic effort into fostering the "Flavors in Meishan" food 
industries that cover 13 categories of highly competitive and unique product 
varieties like pickles, grain, oil, fruits and vegetables. Through open 
cooperation, support for enterprises to expand production and enhance 
industrial development, the "Flavors in Meishan" food industries have recorded 
RMB 83.95 billion in sales income in 2018, and a hundred billion-yuan target 
has been set for 2020.

The 2019 "Chinese Cuisine" Art Festival and Sichuan Cuisine Innovation and 
Development Conference is a culinary cultural gala for the taste bud. With 
Dongpo cuisine as the conduit, it welcomes gastronomes and master chefs from 
around the world to come to Meishan and discover the secrets behind Chinese 
cuisine.

Source: The People's Government of Meishan