Taizhou Cuisine Shines at China Chefs Festival: A Hidden Culinary Paradise of Mountain-Sea Flavors
17 October, the 34th China Chefs Festival and 2025 Chinese Culinary and Catering Expo opened at the Suzhou International Expo Centre. Representing Zhejiang’s dining scene, Taizhou took the centre stage with its mountain-sea delicacies and deep culinary heritage.
Once the opening ceremony wrapped up, the specialty-food halls swung open their doors. The Taizhou pavilion, themed “China’s Hidden Culinary Paradise,” weaves the city’s coastal-mountain scenery and folk culture into five zones: a “Fresh-from-the-Sea” seafood bar, a “Soft & Sticky” snack corner, a “Sweet-as-Honey” dessert lane, plus an interactive kitchen and a business lounge—serving up the full spectrum of Taizhou flavours in one bite-size journey.
“Fresh-from-the-Sea” is Taizhou in microcosm: Mancang Yujia, a seafood restaurant in Jiaojiang, Taizhou, turns wild East-Sea yellow croaker into feather-light fish-floss that melts on the tongue, releasing pure oceanic umami. Alongside it, pepper-salt shui-chan—better known as Bombay duck or dragon-head fish—keeps its snowy, almost bone-soft flesh beneath a whisper-thin crust, handing visitors an instant business card of briny flavour.
The “Soft & Sticky” zone bustles. Black-rice mochi, the classic chewy bite, begins with glutinous rice soaked overnight in indigo juice from wu-fan leaves (local Vaccinium bracteatum). Tourists queue for a turn at the pounding demo—tasting and making in one bite.
Sweet aromas drift from the “Sweet-as-Honey” corner, drawing the longest lines. Hu’s Dan-Qing-Yang-wei—literally “sheep-tail” fritters, actually clouds of whipped egg-white wrapped around red-bean paste—emerge from the fryer, crisp, sugar-dusted and feather-light; seconds later, Kang Niao seaweed biscuits leave their ovens flaky and umami-sweet. Nearby, Aide’s soy-braised pork rolls and beef perfume the air, while Taizhou Social Undertakings Development Group stalls—Xie-Yang royal ginger, “Fairy Farmer” mountain grains, Xian-yu-qi-yuan corn products, and juice-bursting Linhai mandarins—round out a walk-in candy box of Taizhou terroir.
Beyond the tasting bars, display cases parade an edible shoreline: “tide-watching” (speckled octopus), golden East-Sea hairtail, mudskipper-laden Lo Mein, sea-anemone stew with mung-bean noodles, ginger-rich broth noodles, Yongxi aromatic fish, and Dachen yellow croaker—all laid out like nautical postcards, letting visitors read the city’s culinary story at a glance.
From 17 to 19 October the expo hall will also host summit forums, chef-to-chef tastings, national cooking contests, and a “Golden Chef” showcase, turning the three-day festival into a live marketplace where restaurateurs and enterprises can swap ideas and forge deals.
“We see the China Chefs Festival as a springboard to present Taizhou’s culinary culture and industry achievements in the round, and to deepen exchanges and cooperation with catering businesses at home and abroad,” said Lin Aojing, Deputy Director of the Taizhou Municipal Bureau of Commerce. “Next, Taizhou will use this showcase as a catalyst to keep pushing the ‘dining-plus-culture’ blend, raise the profile of Taizhou cuisine, and help the city bid to become a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy—turning Taizhou into a landmark food destination recognized across the country and around the globe.”
Translator：JingJing Shi