Fish quest

Dongqian Lake is a magnet for fans of the region's best fare, Xu Xiaomin reports on a return visit to Ningbo.

It is said that about one-third of Shanghai people have origins in Ningbo, a coastal city in Zhejiang province. I am one of them - my grandfather moved his family from Ningbo to Shanghai in the 1940s, when the two cities already enjoyed an easy connection by water.

So it's no surprise that Ningbo cuisine, which features a salty taste and fresh fare from lake and sea, enjoys huge popularity. Even though Shanghai has lots of Ningbo restaurants, when I miss those flavors I like to go back to Ningbo for a fresh and authentic taste, as the journey now only takes two hours by high-speed train.