Guangyuan is not only a city with thousands of years of history but also a place known for its delicious food. Its representative dishes include Jianmen beancurd, Jianmen chicken, and Cangxi snow pears, making Guangyuan a hometown of delicacies in northern Sichuan province.

The city has attracted the attention of many online mukbang stars. Mi Zijun, a mukbang star with millions of fans on Chinese video sharing platform Douyin, made a program about Guangyuan, which received an overwhelming response.

"Recently there are more and more young people coming out to eat. Many people have decided to try the delicacies of Guangyuan after watching the video of Mi Zijun, and some are diners from Chengdu and Chongqing," said the boss at a cold rice noodle restaurant in Guangyuan.

Whether in ancient or modern times, Chinese people have never stopped exploring delicious food. 

Guangyuan has all kinds of delicacies; just looking at them is a mouth-watering experience.   

Walnut cake: Walnut cake is made from first-class walnuts and sesame seeds.  

First-class walnut and some sesame seeds are ground into pulp and the dough is spread with spiced salt; it's then made into cup-sized round cakes and baked in the oven.

Noodles with pickled cabbage and Tofu pudding: Putting pickled cabbage, Tofu pudding and chili oil on noodles makes them especially delicious.

Zhongzi chicken with cayenne pepper: It is a famous delicacy originating from Zhongzi town, Chaotian district of Guangyuan. The dish is made of local roosters to ensure the chicken tastes fresh. The dish has a spicy and hot flavor and a crispy and tender texture.  

Beef served with steamed bread: Beef served with strong bone soup and steamed bread is a tasty and nutritious meal. 

Pickled cabbage with Tofu pudding rice: The dish has been included in the List of Rural Production and Living Heritages in Sichuan Province. Local people usually have the dish with pickled vegetables. 

Qingchuan Muslim nine bowls and copper pot: Beef boiled in a copper pot fired up by charcoal tastes tender and smooth. The cooked wheaten food of nine bowls is crispy and delicious and has a golden color. If you want to eat Hui cuisine, Qingchuan is definitely a paradise.

Zhaohua pig's large intestines: The dish of Zhaohua pig's large intestines is of excellent quality and many kinds. It has formed a unique food and beverage brand with pickled cabbage and Tofu pudding large intestines as its signature dish. The dish is cooked with Zhaohua pickled cabbage. At the same time, there are fish large intestines, Tofu pudding large intestines, small bowl large intestines, and cold large intestines dressed with sauce, all of which are pleasant appetizers accompanied with rice or wine.

Zhaohua ecological fish: Zhaohua ecological fish is usually boiled for soup to deepen its original flavor, which is a healthy diet.

Zeng's ten bowls of dishes: The ten bowls are filled with local specialties, including corn, sweet potato, potato, green bean and vegetables. It has become a special dish enjoyed by tourists.

Zeng's ten bowls of dishes [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Yueba "Yi Pin Jiu Wan" (One main course and nine bowls of dishes):

"Yi Pin Jiu Wan" is a traditional folk banquet in Lizhou district and even in northern Sichuan, and Yueba village is the most authentic banquet area in Lizhou. With eight people at each table, the dishes are served in order. "Yi Pin" refers to one main course -- "Dao Jian Yuan Zi", that is, fried pork and Tofu with a triangular pyramid shape similar to a knife tip.

"Jiu Wan" , or nine bowls, refers to two bowls of Ding Jiaozi (similar to stewed pork with brown sauce), two bowls of crispy pork (one bowl of crispy lean pork and one bowl of crispy bones), one bowl of sweet rice (i.e. eight-treasure rice pudding), one bowl of steamed pork with rice flour, one bowl of Shao Bai (similar to braised pork with preserved vegetable in soya sauce), one bowl of water boiled pork slices and one bowl of chowder.

Cangxi snow pear feast: The Cangxi snow pear feast has snow pears as its main ingredient, and includes more than 40 dishes. The most distinctive dishes are snow pear steamed glutinous rice, snow pear fried cake and iced snow pear.

Yueba "Yi Pin Jiu Wan" [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Cold noodles in Guangyuan

Steamed cold noodles are similar to Shaanxi's cold noodles. Rice is soaked in water for one day and ground into pulp, then steamed it into rice paper. Cut the rice paper into filaments and add fried peanuts, soybean sprouts, soy sauce, vinegar, cayenne pepper and many other flavorings, and finally add spice oil to complete the steamed cold noodles dish.

Beancurd of Jianmen Pass (Jianmen Pass Toufu) 

The beancurd of Jianmen Pass has a history of nearly 2,000 years. It contains more than eight grams of protein per 100 grams, about twice the national standard, giving it rich nutritional value.

The dish has soybean as its material and is made by a series of processes to make it tender, smooth and delicious. 

For thousands of years, people in Jianmen Pass have created a number of methods to cook Toufu. Jianmen Pass Toufu has become a local renowned cuisine with more than 280 dishes. 

Beancurd Feast of Jianmen Pass [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The Beancurd Feast of Jianmen Pass is listed as one of the top ten Sichuan cuisine brands. It was successively selected for the Guinness World Records, as a state registered trademark, a national geographic marking product, a Sichuan time-honored brand, a Sichuan renowned feast and a Guanyuan city intangible cultural heritage. 

Organic and healthy diet 

Preserving health through diet is a lifestyle created by the Yellow Emperor, the legendary ancestor of the Chinese nation, who stressed respect for regular eating to gain health from nature.

Xiuyun village is situated in Cangxi county of Guangyuan city, which produces natural food without pesticide or inorganic fertilizer. Xiuyun village has gradually become a brand representing local flavor and custom. Now, 59 villages around Xiuyun have joined in the "Xiuyun village" brand project. The village's health food is expected to attract more visitors to drive economic growth. 

Actually, there are many villages like Xiuyun in Guangyuan. Guanyuan has regional advantages for developing green organic food. The city has obtained 225 organic certification certificates and developed 286 products. It also has 26 national geographical indication protection products, such as Cangxi red kiwifruit, Cangxi snow pear, Jianmen Pass Toufu and Qingchuan black fungus. 

Guangyuan is the province's first pollution-free safe and high quality agricultural products demonstration city. All its seven counties and districts have built or been included in national or provincial organic product certification demonstration areas.