Expo offers a chance to eat along the Maritime Silk Road

There was an exhibition hall devoted to tea, another to silk and an extensive international photo show.

But like me, much of the crowd at last weekend's 21 Century International Maritime Silk Road expo in Dongguan city was focused on the food pavilion, where packaged foods, cooking stations and the roots and herbs of traditional medicine all competed for the attention of visitors.

Last year's expo, held just outside Guangdong's provincial capital, Guangzhou, attracted more than 100,000 visitors, and the crowd this year seemed likely to surpass that. Eager hawkers invited passers-by to sample wares from all over: coconut crisps from Thailand, coffee from Vietnam, spicy noodles from Malaysia - and pasta, olive oil, wine and much more from Italy. With Venice as the recognized end point of the old Maritime Silk Road, it was only fitting that Italy stood out with a huge presence, with merchants as eager as those 12th century Venetian traders who dominated their surrounding seas.