Hometown of literary greats hosts pickled food expo

Visitors to Meishan, Sichuan province, last weekend found the tiny hometown of Su Shi (1037-1101), one of China's greatest poets and gourmets, was transformed into a pickled food paradise.

Tasty treats from famous enterprises in China, countries that are part of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and South Korea are available during the three-day 14th China International Pickled Food Expo, which started on Saturday.

The event is being held in the Meishan Convention and Exhibition Center, featuring five professional exhibition halls — the "Belt and Road" international hall, the prefabricated food-themed hall, the pickled-themed pavilion, the district and county specialty hall, and the science and technology manufacturing pavilion — and the Dongpo Food and Culture Festival Fair, covering about 30,000 square meters.

The expo has invited more than 300 vendors and some 800 domestic and foreign participants. Among them, there are 60 well-known enterprises from ASEAN, South Korea and other Belt and Road Initiative member countries, said Dai Linli, deputy mayor of Meishan.

The expo is organized by the China National Food Industry Association and the China Chamber of Commerce of Import & Export of Foodstuffs, Native Produce and Animal By-Products, and is hosted by the Meishan government.

The raw material base for pickled food in Meishan spans 400 hectares, and the city has more than 50 pickled food enterprises.

Last year, the sales revenue of pickled vegetables in Meishan exceeded 22 billion yuan ($3.06 billion), accounting for half the market share in Sichuan.

The expo, the largest of its kind in China, is usually held later in the year. This year's expo kicked off earlier to take advantage of the crowds coming for the 110th China Food and Drinks Fair in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan, said Zhan Yongchuan, an officer with the Meishan city government information office.

The fair will run from Wednesday to Friday.

Known as the barometer of China's food industry, the 69-year-old fair is held twice a year, in spring and autumn. Chengdu has been the permanent host city of the spring edition since 2011.

According to Shi Dongyan, secretary-general of the fair's organizing committee, this year's spring edition is expected to draw more than 6,600 vendors from 45 countries and regions, and over 400,000 visitors.

Poet-gourmet Su Shi, known as Su Dongpo, created many dishes that have been named after him such as Dongpo pickled vegetables, Dongpo pork knuckle and Dongpo meat, which are still very popular today.

Su Shi, his father Su Xun (1009-1066) and younger brother Su Zhe (1039-1112) are known as the Three Sus. They are among eight of China's most illustrious literary masters who lived during the Tang (618-907) and Song (960-1279) dynasties. Their former home is in the Ancestral Temple of the Three Sus in downtown Meishan.