Xi’s idea of great street food not to everyone’s taste
蘋果日報 2021/03/24 20:17
In a country as big as China, it just would not do for the No. 1 state leader to favor food from only certain regions.
Social media users were not shy about showing their displeasure following Chinese President Xi Jinping’s suggestion that street bites renowned in the nation consisted of local snacks in Fujian province and noodles in Gansu province.
Unfortunately, he was at a loss for words after naming those two types of food, as captured on a short video of him visiting a local food stall in Fujian.
The incident occurred as Xi embarked on a sudden trip on Monday to the province, where he used to work. On Tuesday night, the state media Xinhua News Agency announced that the president was set to visit Sha county, a hilly area in the city of Sanming.
Xi went to a number of shops and delivered speeches, receiving a warm welcome from the public, the state broadcaster China Central Television reported.
“So popular in the country … the snack in Sha county. The other is Lanzhou noodles, and what else?” he was seen asking people who were standing around, according to a video clip uploaded by an internet user.
A staffer behind Xi suggested braised chicken with rice, but obviously the state leader had no clue. He asked the staff member where the food was from and found out that it originated in Shandong province.
Many Chinese netizens said they were unconvinced and questioned the food nominated by Xi.
They suggested a long list of local street food, including the “lianpi roujimau,” which comprised pork and noodles stuffed inside Chinese flatbread.
Pig trotters with rice from Longjiang in Guangdong province, soup noodles “luosifen” from Liuzhou, rice vermicelli from Guilin, and xiaolongbao from Hangzhou were mentioned in the heated online discussion.
As Xi had openly mentioned Sha county and Lanzhou, these foods would doubtlessly become the most renowned in the country, a netizen said.
Food in Sha county, such as noodles, steamed dumplings and soup, could be brought to 88,000 shops across China and 60 countries and regions around the world, a Xinhua column said. An annual turnover of more than 50 billion yuan (US$7.67 billion) and the creation of 300,000 jobs could then be expected, the columnist wrote, hailing Xi for his contributions during the time he served as provincial governor in Fujian.
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