Let’s Talk About Taizhou Cuisine — How to Build the“City of Gastronomy”？
After years of accumulation and never abandoning inheritance and innovation, Taizhou has finally leapt from being non-mainstream to one of the top trends in contemporary Chinese cuisine, thanks to the breakout success of "Xin Rong Ji". Eating "Taizhou Cuisine" has become a decidedly upscale thing to do, both nationally and globally. Against this favorable backdrop of timing, location, and popular support, Taizhou has started its journey towards becoming a "City of Gastronomy". Starting from April 20th, our newspaper launched a series of reports titled "What Are We Talking About When We Talk About Taizhou Cuisine?". Over three months, we deeply explored topics related to "Taizhou Cuisine" with 23 Taizhou food experts, renowned chefs, and gourmets. Today, this series concludes, and we will review what these experts discussed and the good opinions and suggestions they offered for "Taizhou Cuisine". But before that, let's first understand the newly released "Taizhou Municipal People's Government Implementation Opinions on Promoting the High-Quality Development of the 'Taizhou Cuisine' Food Industry (2023-2025)" (hereinafter referred to as the "Opinions"). Six projects related to cuisine will further explore and leverage our city's culinary resource advantages, protect, inherit, and innovate "Taizhou Cuisine" culture, build the "Taizhou Cuisine" brand, use culinary creativity as a driver, advance the application for "World City of Gastronomy", promote the effective integration of industries such as catering, culture and tourism, marine fisheries, planting and aquaculture, and food processing, accelerate the high-quality development of the "Taizhou Cuisine" food industry, and promote the sustainable development of Taizhou city. The goal is that by 2025, our city will have fostered a group of renowned "Taizhou Cuisine" enterprises, chefs, dishes, and restaurants; established over 10 "Taizhou Cuisine" food clusters; built a "Taizhou Cuisine" chef training system led by the Xin Rong Ji College; formed a "Taizhou Cuisine" brand characterized by integration and innovation; and used the "World City of Gastronomy" application to drive the high-quality development of the "Taizhou Cuisine" food industry.
A responsible person from the Taizhou "World City of Gastronomy" Application Task Force stated that the city will next formulate a high-quality development plan for the "Taizhou Cuisine" food industry, draft a "World City of Gastronomy" creation plan, accelerate "World City of Gastronomy" project construction, and form a new pattern where "World City of Gastronomy" development leads the food industry, aiming to make "Taizhou Cuisine" a "golden name card" for Taizhou's city image.
"Taizhou Cuisine" Culture Research Project
Food is the paramount necessity of the people, and a region's cuisine contains its culture. A single dish can make a city famous. "Taizhou Cuisine" is no exception; history, stories, and legends are all important elements that enhance it. The "Opinions" propose to define key research topics focusing on the origin, evolution, development, and formation of "Taizhou Cuisine" culture, with at least one research outcome on "Taizhou Cuisine" culture published annually, aiming to form an influential system of "Taizhou Cuisine" cultural research achievements by 2025. "We will build a 'Taizhou Cuisine' museum integrating functions such as exhibition, education and training, cultural research, and consumer experience, creating an influential base for the inheritance, display, and experience of 'Taizhou Cuisine' culture, and an important tourist attraction," said a responsible person from the Taizhou Culture, Radio, Television, Tourism and Sports Bureau. They also stated continued support for the research, development, and innovation of "Taizhou Cuisine" and strengthening its standardization.
Taizhou Ingredient Brand Enhancement Project
High-quality ingredients are the foundation and essence of Taizhou cuisine. Whether mountain delicacies or seafood, Taizhou people's pursuit of ingredients is almost demanding. To this end, Taizhou will build high-quality "Taizhou Cuisine" ingredient bases, adhering strictly to both "producing well" and "managing well", focusing on both standardized production and law enforcement supervision, steadily advancing the construction of an agricultural product standardization system, and establishing a quality and safety supervision system covering the entire process. A responsible person from the Taizhou Municipal Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs stated that they will guide and promote public brands like "Tai Jiu Xian" and geographical indication with agricultural subjects to obtain green food certification, accelerate the construction of a high-end ingredient market system in Taizhou, and provide sufficient, high-quality, and safe ingredients for the development of the "Taizhou Cuisine" food industry. Taizhou leads Zhejiang in offshore fishing and mudflat aquaculture; Taizhou seafood is exceptionally fresh. Therefore, regarding promoting the supply of high-quality aquatic products, the "Opinions" propose vigorously developing deep-sea aquaculture, focusing on expanding and enhancing deep-sea farming such as large yellow croaker in Jiaojiang's Dachen and Yuhuan's Zhonglu Island. Simultaneously, efforts will be made to improve the "Taizhou Cuisine" food safety supervision system.
Taizhou Chef Training and Quality Improvement Project
In April this year, Taizhou Vocational & Technical College, in collaboration with the Xin Rong Ji Food Group, established the Xin Rong Ji College. Primarily operating as a three-year higher vocational college, it will successively offer majors like Culinary Arts and Nutrition, Chinese and Western Pastry Arts, and Hotel Management and Digital Operations over the next two years. Starting in 2025, it will cooperate with local Taizhou secondary vocational schools to enroll students under an integrated secondary-vocational model. This is a major move by Taizhou to strengthen talent cultivation in the catering industry, encouraging vocational colleges to conduct various forms of "Taizhou Cuisine" skill training, and entrepreneurship training for the society, focusing on cultivating a group of high-skilled culinary talents. It also guides catering enterprises to establish and improve employee training systems, organize employees to participate in job training and continuing education, and enhance the overall quality of the workforce.
Taizhou Food Enterprise Cultivation Project
Not to mention the countless local "Taizhou Cuisine" businesses in Taizhou, there are over 1,300 Taizhou restaurants established in Shanghai alone. A responsible person from the Taizhou Municipal Commerce Bureau stated that they support leading "Taizhou Cuisine" enterprises in actively expanding beyond Taizhou, polishing their brands, scaling up, and quickly forming a group of large food enterprise groups with high status and international competitiveness. They will also actively revitalize "time-honored" catering enterprises, promote the integration of traditional culture with modern life, and strive to form a development pattern where "protection and development are equally emphasized, inheritance and innovation are both pursued, and economy and culture prosper together." Simultaneously, the city will vigorously build three pre-made food industry chains for aquatic products, rice-vegetable, and meat-poultry pre-made food, striving to construct a safe, trustworthy, complete-chained, high-quality, diverse, and well-supported pre-made food industrial system.
Taizhou Cuisine Agglomeration Project
At the construction site of the Jiaojiang Xinhai City Shared Space project, south of Yijiangshan Avenue and west of Central Avenue in Jiazhi Sub-district, Jiaojiang District, the Taizhou Chinese Food Street is rising from the ground. In the future, this will become a high-end catering cluster integrating dietary culture, leisure vacation, and commercial entertainment, a dissemination site for Taizhou food culture, and a display site for urban micro-tourism. The "Opinions" propose to accelerate the planning and construction of "Taizhou Cuisine" food streets, gather commercial resources, expand industrial scale, enhance market vitality, and promote the agglomerated development of the catering industry. Simultaneously, certification work for model food streets will be carried out, gradually cultivating a batch of characteristic shops primarily focused on catering while integrating leisure and entertainment experiences, striving to create food streets with a strong culinary culture, complete supporting facilities, and standardized management, forming an agglomeration effect.
Taizhou Cuisine Festival Marketing Project
In recent years, as "Taizhou Cuisine", characterized by " fresh and savory, soft and chewy, sweet and delightful.", has gained popularity, renowned food bloggers and influencers have continuously made special trips to Taizhou. In terms of traffic flow, "Taizhou Cuisine"'s ability to attract attention is remarkable even on a national scale. Promoting the integration of "cuisine + culture and tourism" and strengthening the external promotion and exchange of "Taizhou Cuisine" are crucial for building "City of Gastronomy". Therefore, the "Opinions" propose strengthening the construction of festival platforms and carriers, successfully hosting the Taizhou Donghai Culture Tourism Festival, continuously building the brand of food festivals like the Sanmen Green Crab Festival, Huangyan Citrus Festival, and Xianju Waxberry Festival; organizing the distribution of "Taizhou Cuisine" food consumption vouchers in conjunction with related festival activities; continuously deepening the "Hundred Counties Thousand Bowls·Fresh in Taizhou" brand project; and organizing events such as "Taizhou Cuisine Hong Kong-Macau Tour", "Taizhou Cuisine Fragrance Drifts to Beijing", and "Taizhou Flavor · Taizhou Cuisine" Shanghai promotion.
A relevant official from Taizhou’s task force for the bid to become the“World City of Gastronomy” stated that the city will now formulate a high-quality development plan for the Taizhou cuisine industry and draw up a specific action plan to achieve the “World City of Gastronomy” designation. By accelerating related projects, Taizhou aims to establish a new framework where the pursuit of this international title drives the growth of its culinary sector, ultimately shaping Taizhou cuisine into a “golden name card” for the city’s image.
Retrospective: Insights on Taizhou Cuisine from Industry Leaders
Wang Han | Renowned Writer & Official "Savoring Taizhou" Food Ambassador
Promoting a city is effectively done through its food. Often, local specialties and cuisine serve as the most direct and vivid advertisement, much like its landscapes. The current reputation of Taizhou cuisine stems not only from its ingredients and techniques but also from collective human effort—both governmental and community forces have joined hands to champion Taizhou dishes. We should promote iconic, widely recognized foods, like Ningbo’s glutinous rice balls or Jiaxing’s zongzi, and establish Taizhou as a city where people come eager to eat and return for more.
Wang Xingshun | Chairman of Taizhou Shunji Catering Co., Ltd. & President of Taizhou Catering Industry Association
Like the people of Taizhou, Taizhou cuisine is straightforward and genuine. It has grown from nothing into a culinary tradition that spans from our coastal and mountainous city to the world. The first step has been taken; what follows must be swift and sustained. The inclusive nature of Taizhou cuisine allows it to meet diverse dining needs—from casual to premium. It is now up to culinary professionals to strengthen these advantages, drive innovation, and make the name of Taizhou cuisine resonate even louder.
Liu Xiaomin | Chinese Culinary Master & Secretary-General of Taizhou Catering Industry Association
The success of restaurants like Xin Rong Ji in Shanghai lies in their unwavering commitment to high-quality ingredients and cooking standards. I believe more and more travelers will visit Taizhou specifically for its cuisine. In addition to preserving tradition and fostering innovation, standardizing Taizhou dishes is essential—it ensures that food lovers leave satisfied and supports the sustainable growth of our culinary heritage.
Yao Guorong | President of Jiaojiang District Catering Industry Association
In the world of Taizhou noodles, Ginger Soup Noodles hold an unshakable position and best represent Taizhou’s noodle culture. Yet Taizhou cuisine is never confined—almost every county or district boasts its own signature noodle dish. Though humble in appearance, these noodles reflect generations of inheritance and innovation.
Wang Yizhou | President of Huangyan Catering Association
The preservation of Taizhou cuisine to this day is thanks to the relentless efforts of the previous generation. Now, it is our task to bring it beyond Taizhou. As a local chef, I hope to make more people fall in love with Taizhou through its food. At the same time, I aim to integrate Taizhou’s culture into its dishes, allowing diners to experience a rich cultural heritage with every bite.
Sun Jiasheng | Deputy Secretary-General of Luqiao Catering Association
For those in business, farewells are commonplace. Luqiao’s commercial culture has given rise to its own distinctive dishes, forming an important part of Taizhou cuisine. Now that Taizhou cuisine is gaining fame, the challenge of “holding our ground” grows—but so does our determination to excel. Through food, we can help more people discover and understand Taizhou.
Li Shengli | President of Linhai Catering Industry Association
Taizhou boasts a rich variety of snacks. These everyday foods have witnessed the growth of every Taizhou native and pieced together the city’s own development story. While evolution is inevitable, snacks can be simplified or enriched—but their authentic flavor must remain, so the story of Taizhou continues without losing its taste.
Qiao Bo | President of Linhai Eastern Catering Industry Association
Differences in taste reflect regional diversity. In Taizhou, the line between sweet and savory is often blurred—much like a bowl of soup that can be either, embodying the bold and inclusive spirit of Taizhou people. Various textures come together in one bite, leaving a lasting impression.
Zou Lianqing | President of Wenling Catering Industry Association
Taizhou is hailed by netizens as the “City of Chewy Delights,” with rice cakes being a prime example. Wenling’s stuffed rice cakes have now become a culinary name card, attracting visitors from across the country and beyond. When Taizhou’s rice cakes travel afar, they carry with them the flavors and stories of Taizhou. It is the duty of every Taizhou chef to uphold the standard of each dish.
Xu Shaohua | President of Yuhuan Tourism Hotel & Catering Industry Association
Taizhou people emphasize eating according to the season, selecting seasonal ingredients for both seafood and side dishes to achieve a synergistic effect. This reflects the down-to-earth nature of Taizhou cuisine—even the simplest preparation yields genuinely good flavor.
Wang Jiaping | President of Catering Branch, Xianju Tourism Industry Association
While Taizhou cuisine has now gone global, Xianju’s “Eight Great Bowls” remain somewhat limited due to ingredient requirements and long preparation times. We must respect the unique character of each Taizhou dish—whether outward-looking or inward—as each is a valuable part of our culinary tapestry.
Ye Shiming | President of Tiantai County Catering Industry Association
One fascinating aspect of Taizhou cuisine is how flavors differ within short distances. Not only do northern and southern areas specialize in mountain and seafood, respectively, but many dishes also take on distinct flavors and stories across different counties—creating a vibrant,百花齐放 (hundred flowers blooming) scene where no single version prevails.
Xie Shenghua | President of Sanmen County Catering Industry Association
Wheat pancakes hold an important place in Taizhou cuisine as one of its signature items. But whether making pancakes, dishes, or soups, Taizhou people are strict and persistent about ingredient selection and cooking methods—a key reflection of how we inherit and innovate our culinary heritage.
Wang Jinbao | President of Taizhou Famous Chefs Committee
We are striving to perfect Taizhou cuisine in color, aroma, taste, form, and presentation. These five elements are indispensable in modern Taizhou dishes. While flavor remains central, it must be complemented by the other aspects.
Wang Hao | Executive President of Taizhou Famous Chefs Committee
Tradition and innovation are not contradictory—they go hand in hand. I support innovating and refining Taizhou dishes to suit contemporary tastes, but I also hope to preserve some of the classic Taizhou flavors as authentically as possible for modern diners.
Zhu Deqi | Secretary-General of Taizhou Famous Chefs Committee
The current success of Taizhou cuisine urges young chefs not only to master selection, seasoning, knife skills, and technique but also to understand the origins of ingredients, tell compelling stories, and listen to both diners and the “voice” of the dishes themselves.
Chen Zhenyu | President of Taizhou Catering Service Committee
Dining is no longer just about sustenance—more people seek a quality experience. Taizhou cuisine includes casual street stalls, trendy restaurants, and high-end banquets. Only by developing all these aspects in tandem and seizing opportunities of the times can we achieve the desired future for Taizhou gastronomy.
Yan Qiang | Head of Shanghai Yue Xian · Taizhou Cuisine
In the internet era, even the finest wine needs promotion. Establishing a systematic training program for Taizhou chefs can help build an innovative and integrated brand, strongly boosting Taizhou cuisine’s expansion. I also recommend cultivating professionals in operations, management, and service for Taizhou culinary brands.
Yang Zhongtai | Founder of Tu Zao Tou Brand
Taizhou mountain delicacies mostly use fresh local ingredients in their prime season, emphasizing the shortest journey from field or stream to table. Every body of water, mountain, and season in Taizhou has its own culinary plan—waiting to be discovered and savored by those who love good food.
Lin Meijun | Chairman of Lin Jia Yi Brand Culture Management Company
Bringing Taizhou cuisine beyond our borders means not only serving authentic dishes but also bringing Taizhou’s natural scenery, history, culture, and fresh flavors to diners elsewhere. We want them to learn about Taizhou through its food and be inspired to visit, boosting local socioeconomic development.
Luo Ming | Co-Founder & General Manager of Long Yan · Taizhou Cuisine
As a “new Taizhou resident” who has witnessed over 20 years of change in the local dining scene, I hope to contribute to building Taizhou into a capital of gastronomy—so that everyone who enjoys our cuisine also feels the warmth and sincerity of Taizhou people.
Lu Liangming | Founder of Luqiao A Ming Pai Dang
Today, Taizhou’s open-air food stalls have become a name card for the city’s image. Visitors who come for Taizhou cuisine and the lively atmosphere are met with clean, civilized dining environments and thoughtful service.
The vibrant essence of Taizhou food remains—what’s improved is the setting; what’s unchanged is the consistent freshness and that precious, piping-hot warmth.
Qiu Jifu | Founder of Taizhou Jipin Catering Co., Ltd.
We are grateful for the superb ingredients this land provides. With sincere dedication, we prepare each dish to honor both nature’s gifts and the wisdom passed down by our predecessors. I hope more people will join in preserving and innovating Taizhou cuisine, allowing its most authentic form to be recognized and appreciated by all.
Translator：Jiayang Lin