Cold noodles become hot industry in Shaanxi city
Print Edition
In a factory workshop, cold noodles and seasonings are packed into bags on an assembly line in preparation to be delivered to dinner tables across the country, and even the world.
The cold noodles, called “ganmianpi” in Chinese, are a specialty in the city of Baoji, northwest Shaanxi Province.
Xu Lu, office director of Baoji Shangrun food company, said the company receives more than 500 orders every day through e-commerce platforms, with seven bags of noodles per order sold on average.
With a trademark registered, an industrial park established, and a special cold noodle industrial school set up, Baoji has turned the once-handmade snack into an industry with an annual output exceeding 5 billion yuan (US$782 million).
Ganmianpi dates back to as early as the Tang Dynasty (618-907). In the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), Wang Tongjiang, a chef serving the emperor, returned to his hometown of Qishan County in Baoji after retirement and spread the skills of making ganmianpi to his fellow villagers. Now, the snack has become a local symbol.
Making such noodles is not easy. About one hour after flour and water are mixed into a dough, the dough is repeatedly washed with water and then left for eight hours. Following a series of steps, including fermentation, rolling, steaming and cooling, each piece of dough is then sliced into pliable but chewy noodles. Chili oil, gluten and vinegar are used to season the noodles.
With his skillful noodle-making technique, Zhang Xinhuai started his ganmianpi business in the 1990s.
“All I had were a few tables and stools placed at a roadside stall,” recalled Zhang, now the head of the ganmianpi industrial development and promotion association of the city.
Zhang said numerous small cold noodle businesses like his own became a vital part of local people’s lives.
In 2014, the cold noodles hit online shopping platforms, attracting orders from across the country.
In Baoji Panlong New Area, three companies became the first to begin operations at the Baoji ganmianpi industrial park. The park aims to become an industrial cluster combining cold noodle processing, e-commerce, logistics, technology development and tourism, said Li Peng, manager of the project.
Last year, the output of the Baoji ganmianpi industry reached 5 billion yuan, providing nearly 50,000 jobs in various sectors. The cold noodle products have been exported to more than 20 countries and regions, such as the United States, Canada, Japan and Australia.
A cold noodle industrial school was also set up in May at the Shaanxi Institute of Mechatronic Technology.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
