Participants learn about Nantong specialty dishes. [Photo/Nantong Daily]

Catering practitioners from over 20 countries and regions together with traditional Chinese medicine practitioners and dietary regimen enthusiasts recently gathered in Nantong, Jiangsu province, to share their experiences and promote a healthy Chinese diet overseas.

These participants discussed health maintenance through diet and medicine, the essence of food, cooking skills, and traditional culture, emphasizing the close relation between specialty dining and local customs, while appreciating Nantong's local delicacies such as drunken shrimps and crab roe buns.

As Yu Xuerong, president of the Jiangsu Provincial Dining Industry Association, stated, Chinese culinary culture has a long history and is rich in meaning. Food not only serves the purpose of satisfying hunger but is also a form of artistic expression. It embodies cultural and artistic values, aesthetics, and industrial significance, creating value through gastronomy. This effectively promotes mutual learning between and the integration of Chinese and Western civilizations.

Sponsored by the Jiangsu Provincial Dining Industry Association, the event aims to promote the cooperation and development of the domestic and overseas Chinese dining industries and health maintenance via a Chinese diet.