Relevant facts.

Shunde is situated at the core of the Pearl River Delta in southern China, with Guangzhou to the north and Hong Kong to the south. It covers an area of 806 square kilometres including 10 subdistricts, 206 villages with 3.2 million permanent residents. There are 500,000 Shunde people living in foreign countries and regions.

In the year of 1452 (Ming Dynasty), Shunde County was established (the Chinese character “Shun” means “following the law of nature”, while “de” means “moral character of virtue”. The two Chinese characters together mean following the law of nature and morality). Shunde has abundant and diverse historical and cultural resources. It is the important birthplace of Cantonese opera and also enjoys the honorary titles of Hometown of Martial Arts and Hometown of Dragon Boats. Presently, 67 items and cultural activities of Shunde have been granted the title of “Intangible Cultural Heritage” in China.

The history of Shunde’s cuisine can be dated back to the Qin and Han dynasties more than 2000 years ago. After the formation period in Tang dynasty (7th century) and maturation period (from the 10th to the 17th century), Shunde chefs developed very fine cooking techniques and Shunde cuisine entered its heyday in the 18th century. Shunde cuisine has formed its special characteristics keeping the original flavour of ingredients and featuring light, fresh, tender, sweet, aromatic and crispy taste.

What makes the Creative Field of Gastronomy special?

As the primary cradle of Cantonese Cuisine with a long history, diverse cooking techniques and solid industry foundation, Shunde has long been regarded as the “Hometown of Chinese Chefs” “China Famous City of Delicacies”. There are 43 chefs with the title of Chinese Cuisine Master and 27 with the title of Chinese Cuisine Famous Chef. 36 restaurants have been awarded the title of Famous Chinese Restaurant. 11 local snacks were selected  as Chinese Famous Snacks.

Everyone can be a cook and everyone loves cooking in Shunde. Shunde has not only a large group of well-known culinary masters with superb cooking skills but also numerous cooking professionals of different levels, cooking enthusiasts and gourmets. Together, they contribute to the establishment and development of the harmonious and solid gastronomy  community and ecosystem through a lot of communication and exchanges.

Now there are nearly 30,000 catering enterprises with more than 100,000 employees. The turnover of the gastronomy industry in 2022 was 9.15 billion yuan in Shunde which has effectively promoted the local economy after Covid-19 pandemic.

How the designation is being managed?

In 2022, Shunde Gastronomy Brand Promotion Committee was set up, which consisted of representatives from government departments, gastronomy  associations, universities, civil societies and media. With the joint efforts of different sectors, the Promotion Committee has constantly promoted the development of Shunde cuisine culture through the launch of IP images, evaluation of certified stores, setting up of a food map in Meituan App, compilation of food stories, cooking exchange activities and so on.

Gastronomy traditions.

Food has always played a significant role in the life of Shunde people. There is special food on all the important occasions in Shunde. Big banquets are held on different kinds of events and festivals , such as the Lamp Liquor Festival, the Dragon Boat Feast, Village Feast, Happily Enjoying Meal Together, etc in which neighbours, friends, relatives are invited to enjoy meals together. This has become a special scene in Shunde.

Traditional food customs, vibrant village banquets, and a happy community atmosphere together showcase the cultural essence of Shunde with friendly community and harmonious society.

Iconic local products.

Shunde cuisine uses diversified ingredients with focus on the five types of ingredients like fish, rice, milk, poultry and flowers.

At the time as early as the 16th century, Shunde people had begun to build the earliest eco-agricultural system – Mulberry Dike Fishpond which realised the integration of planting mulberry trees, bringing up silkworms and fishes, in which mulberry trees, silkworms, fishes and mud lived harmoniously with each other. The Mulberry Dike Fishpond was listed by FAO of the United Nations as the best agricultural ecological mode. Because of the abundant production of fish, Shunde people have learned to cook fish in about 200 different kinds of ways to fully enjoy its freshness by using almost all parts of freshly caught fish like fish meat, fish head, skin and intestines without any waste over years. Shunde chefs are considered to be masters of cooking fish. Some famous gourmets said that it would be a great pity if you visit Shunde without tasting fish here. Therefore, fervent foodies have been flooding to Shunde to taste its iconic fish dishes such as steamed fish, sashimi salad, fish skin appetiser, fish cake, fish soup with mixed vegetables and flowers, fish congee, fish dumpling, fish noodles and various kinds of vegetables stuffed with fish paste.

According to statistics in 2022, Shunde’s annual output of raw fish accounts for 20% of the country, eel accounts for 30% of the country, with 36 leading agricultural enterprises at national, provincial and municipal levels. Shunde is also called the “Home of eels in China”.

Local stakeholders.

The government entity responsible for UCCN is the Culture, Broadcasting, Tourism and Sports Bureau of Shunde.

Gastronomy main events.

Since 2006, Shunde has held events like “Food and Culture Festival” “Private Home Cuisine Competition” for 17 consecutive years, and launched “Never-ending Food Feast” and “Making an Appointment with Fish Online Food Festival”.

Deepen the brand of “A Bite of Shunde”, which is a famous documentary filmed by CCTV in 2016 and got hundreds of millions of views, by holding the national roadshow. The roadshow has already been held in Shenzhen, Guiyang, Shanghai, Kunshan and Zhengzhou so far, and used food as a medium to showcase the new image and charm of the city. 

Collaborated with the Catering Committee of the All- China Federation of Industry and Commerce, and co- hosted the first Chinese Food Landmark Product Development Summit.

Organised a series of food and cultural activities with high internet  popularity, wide dissemination and strong interaction like “National Tik Tok Food Talents Night”.

Besides, there were theme activities like the “5.19 China Tourism Day” food release, “Dragon Boat Tour and Food Tasting in Shunde”, “Lingnan Folk Carnival”, etc.