Located in the centre of north Jiangsu province in China, Huai'an is an important city along the Grand Canal, a UNESCO World Heritage property. Huai'an holds an important place as the origin of Huaiyang Cuisine, one of the four major traditional cuisines in China. Famous for its Xuyi crayfish and Hongze Lake hairy crab, the city’s gastronomy combines aspects of agriculture, aquaculture, central kitchen production initiatives, to food processing, catering services, culinary training, and eco-tourism. The city hosts a group of premier league colleges and R&D platforms in China in the field of food and cooking. Huai’an is home to over 20,000 catering enterprises that have generated a significant number of employment opportunities. The city also has an extensive repertoire of food exhibitions, festivals, conventions, and competitions. Huai'an has always believed that all citizens should enjoy and benefit from the results of urban development. It is the creativity of its citizens that provides the driving force for the food industry in Huai'an to promote innovation and new achievements.
As a Creative City of Gastronomy, the following steps will be important:
- Promoting the integration of the urban ecological environment, public space, and creative activities to attract citizens especially women and young people to join in the creative cause;
- Giving full support to the gastronomy-related colleges and schools, to cultivate more international and domestic talents in the field of gastronomy;
- Organizing gastronomy-themed activities to build platforms for international exchanges and industrial cooperation; and
- Inviting UCCN members to Huai'an to share their creative practices and achievements, and strengthening international exchanges and cooperation.
