Gourmet Carnival of Silk Road Brands Collection successfully held in Beijing

  Nowadays during the process of Chinese nation stepping into the national rejuvenation, the magnificent ancient Silk Road revives under the great concept of the “Belt and Road” Initiative, to which the historical mission of accomplishing a community of shared future for mankind was endowed. It is necessary for people along the Belt and Road to discuss, build and share together, the foundation and key of which is the communication between hearts and minds. Promoting cultural exchanges and collecting ideas through food and wine to make people share the empathy and happiness is the purpose of the Gourmet Carnival of the Silk Road Brands Collection.

  The first “Gourmet Carnival of the Silk Road Brands Collection”activity took place in the Park Hyatt Beijing Hotel on November 19^th, 2017. 15 countries, 6 domestic cities and nearly 50 enterprises attended, taking part in the exhibitions, seminar and cultural dinner, bringing colors and wonderful moments to the activity.

The Great Opening Ceremony

Massimo D’Alema, the former Prime Minister of Italy and the Honorary Chairman of SRCA, proclaimed the opening of the activity and enthusiastically opened a Sparkling Wine from his own Chateau – the La Madeleine, to celebrate. Li Zhenji, Founder of Vice Chairperson and Secretary General of the World Federation of Chinese Medicine Societies; Oleg Dyomin, Ukrainian Ambassador to China; Mr. David Aptsiauri, Georgian Ambassador to China;Ina Marciulionyte, Lithuanian Ambassador to China; Nicholas Rosellini, UN Resident Coordinator in China; Giuseppe Rao, Counsellor of Italian Prime Minister’s Office; Lu Jian, Deputy Director of Beijing Municipal Social Construction Work Office; Lu Qiutian, Former Ambassador of the Foreign Ministry; Shani Calyaneratne Karunarantn, Deputy Ambassador of Sri Lanka to China; Zhang Lianqi, managing partner of Ruihua Certified Public Accountants; Ding Shufen, the deputy leader of Beijing business association; Yao Guanghai, secretary of the party committee of China International Electronic Commerce Center Co. LTD.; Tang Shuyuan, the party secretary of Ningjin county; He Baogui, the Secretary of Beijing Catering Industry Association; Liu Guangwei, President of Beijing Easteat Institute; Xu Long, the western-style food chef of the Great Hall of the People; Wu Bixiu, Secretary General of SRCA; Helen Han, the Executive Secretary of SRCA and Shen Haiping, Director of Diaoyutai Food Standard Management Center attended the activity and expressed congratulations.

Massimo D’Alema, the former Prime Minister of Italy and the Honorary Chairman of SRCA, and other guests celebrating the opening of the activity

There were 15 countries and 6 domestic cities attending the exhibition. 46 booths were set to demonstrate tasty foreign and Chinese food, bringing audience colorful visual and gustatory experience.

Korean booth was the largest and self-decorated one among foreign booths. The video introducing “K-FOOD” concept was played on several display screens. Meanwhile, Korean pop songs aroused people’s enthusiasm. Since the Olympic Winter Games will be held in Pyeongchang in 2018, apart from area that exhibiting food and drinks like Pickle, fried rice, rice cake, nori, rice wine and ginger tea, special exhibition area that introduced Olympic Winter Games was also set to introduce geography and beautiful scenery of Pyeongchang. With the video of the Olympic Winter Games and Pyeongchang played on the LED screen, guests had a better understanding of the beauty of sports and the city itself. What’s more, they also had a chance to experience the Alpine Skiing through VR equipments. The mascots “Soohorang” and “Bandabi”, whose images are represented by cute white tiger and Asian black bear, were so popular, that excited kids wrestled for taking photos with them. Award-winning quiz were held from time to time and winners, who answered questions about the Olympic Winter Games correctly, were awarded vacuum cups. The Korean Ambassador to China, Noh Young-min, also came and visited the Korean booth.

Delicious food and Olympic Winter Games exhibition area catching people’s eyes

In the booth of Japanese Edomae Sushi, a one-hundred-pounds tuna fish attracted guests’ attention. Massimo D’Alema, the former Prime Minister of Italy and the Honorary Chairman of SRCA, started cutting it under the guidance of the chef. Soon it was carved up into even pieces which allowed the special flavor flourished in people’s mouths. Many people quickly lined up to have a try of this freshly-made sushi.

 Massimo D’Alema, the former Prime Minister of Italy and the Honorary Chairman of SRCA opening the biggest tuna in the booth of Japanese Edomae Sushi

Mr. D’Alema tasting the steamed stuffed bun from Ye-Chun, a century-old brand from Yangzhou

Counsellor of Italian Prime Minister’s Office and Chief Advisor of the Silk Road Cities Alliance, Mr. Giuseppe Rao attended the activity

The Korean Ambassador to China Noh Young-min and his spouse visiting Korean booth

Oleg Dyomin, Ukraine Ambassador to China (left) and Viktor Tanasiichuk, Minister Counsellor of Ukrainian Embassy (right)

Ukrainian Roshen Confectionery Corporation is the representative of Eastern Europe foods. Ukraine is a large chocolate producing European country and Roshen Confectionery Corporation is one of the largest sweets making enterprises in Europe. Jelly-stuffed soft biscuits, presented at the booth, made the taste of the biscuits very exquisite and unique. Milk and fruit candies, chocolate candies with liqueur inside, filled cookies, and other kinds of confectionery were the reason for the kids to totally forget about going home.

The Lithuania area’s cheese, which has quite special flavor, was very popular delicacy. The first taste of the cheese is often sour and hard, but the aftertaste is full-bodied. According to the represents of the Lithuania exhibition area, their cheese is fermented for at least 12 months, and the flavors vary with the different fermentation time. The cheese that has been fermented for 12 months has a sweet and pleasant aroma which comes from the goat milk. This kind of cheese has a relatively soft texture. However, as the fermentation and storage time extends, the calcium crystals in milk begin to harden, and a delicate crispy flavor gradually appears. Once the storage time exceeds 36 months, the cheese color will turn from milk yellow to light marble brown, with calcium crystal spots, and a refreshing bitter and spicy taste appears as well.

In addition, the durian, king of fruits in the Philippine booth and the Rougie foie gras in the French booth were very appetizing. The curry from Malaysia, baklava from Azerbaijan and truffle from Italia attracted many guests. Also, the milk tea freshly made by Sri Lankan companies and the wine from Georgia gave the guests an experience of different drinking cultures.

While the foreign food competed with each other, Chinese food was equally popular. Beijing Chamber of Commerce and Beijing Food and Beverage Industry Association joined the exhibition together. Many time-honored brands brought classic Beijing snacks for the guests such as Bianyifang, Tea Soup Li, Liubiju, Yueshengzhai, Nanlaishun, Jinfang Snacks, Qing Feng Steamed Stuffed Bun Shop, TanghuluGuo, Erguotou and Jinxing Duck. The bouquet of Jing liquor from Jing brand Co. Ltd. and Nikeng liquor from Ningjin County in Hebei brought aroma to all the guests. Guochun Bitter Buckwheat Company provided the guests with nutritious and healthy bitter buckwheat drinking. Healthy food, full of selenium, from Taoyuan, Hunan, the hairy crab and organic food from Baoying, land of fish and rice, caught people’s attention. Many guests stood in a long queue to wait for the freshly made food like Western Mahua Noodle, Yechun Steamed Dumpling and Liaoning Juhuanv dumpling. Beijing Yamei Melamine Wares Company supplied the tableware, particularly made for this exhibition.

From the crispy fried fruit of Eurasian hinterland to the sweet and sour Italian sauce from Mediterranean regions, from the compote of Azerbaijan located in the Great Caucasus, to the grape juice of Lithuania by the Baltic Sea. The ancient Silk Road started from Xi’an, heading west, and the communication brought about the mutual prosperity of economy and culture. The Gourmet Carnival of the Silk Road Brands Collection is a feast belonging to all the countries along the Silk Road. With the development of the Belt and Road Initiative, we are embracing the new chapter of our communication in many aspects such as food culture. Today, the principle of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits are spirits that China wants to send to the world.

The Elites-gathering Forum

Food culture is an essential part of every country’s culture and the issue that easily strikes a chord among different countries. At the “Silk Road Promotes Food Culture Exchanges Forum”, several distinguished guests delivered speeches and had a discussion centered around the topic “the positive effects that the ancient Silk Road exerted on the food cultural communication between the East and the West”.

Giuseppe Rao, Counsellor of the Italian Prime Minister’s Office, talked about the innovation and sustainability of the Italian Agriculture Industry, export, import and culture of European agricultural products. Shani Calyaneratne Karunarantne, Deputy Ambassador of Sri Lanka to China, introduced the historic impacts and modern value of Chinese food overseas. Xu Long, the western-style food chef of the Great Hall of the People, pointed out that the Silk Road had affected the development of Chinese food and many food materials were introduced to the East through the Silk Road. Liu Guangwei, the director of the Beijing Oriental Delicacy Academy, talked about the positive effects of the spread of food cultural on the Belt and Road. Fabio Falanga, a senior chef from Italy, believed that the Silk Road was not only an old road for trade, but also a road of human being’s food civilization. Shen Haiping, the Director of the Diaoyutai Food Standard Management Center, introduced the food standards of Diaoyutai and how to control the whole process of food security and traditional nutrition.

Liu Guangwei, Director of Beijing Oriental Delicacy Academy

Shani Calyaneratne Karunarantne, Deputy Ambassador of Sri Lanka to China

Giuseppe Rao, Counsellor of Italian Prime Minister’s Office and Chief Advisor of the Silk Road Cities Alliance

Xu Long, the western-style food chef of the Great Hall of the People

Shen Haiping, Director of the Diaoyutai Food Standard Management Center

Spices have been the finishing touch of cuisines in different countries since ancient times. Plant science painter Sun Yingbao combined the arts skills with the spices of vegetables and created an exquisite painting which amazed the guests. The assessment system of the Red Chef Hat Restaurant, which is also called China’s Michelin, was launched at the forum, which provided Chinese assessment guide to Chinese food experts all over the world.

The Splendid Cultural Dinner

The Silk Road Cultural Dinner was one of the highlights of the Gourmet Carnival of the Silk Road Brands Collection. Wine from Italy and Azerbaijan, fresh sake and buckwheat wine of Jingpai Group, Nikeng spirit of Ningjin County along with many other delicacies of countries along the Silk Road evolved into a truly amazing scene, full of tempting food flavors, in the hands of Ouyang Qinglong, the main chef of the Park Hyatt Hotel. The guests and, first of all, the former Prime Minister of Italy Mr. Dalema ​highly praised the culinary skills of Mr. Ouyang. The musical "Chef" from South Korea masterly combined two spheres: art and food. Using body language, actors vividly displayed a lively cooking scene. The Ukrainian culture music group “U-Girls” demonstrated the traditional Ukraine culture and some festival customs through music and dance to the audience. Mr. Su Dabao, the first Chinese sand artist, performed the sand painting "Bridge of Friendship and Cooperation". Through the colourful sand, he described the Silk Road Cities Alliance mission,its achievements and Silk Road cooperation footprints. China`s first Indian dance professional Kim Sang-shan prepared the traditional Indian dance, adding a beautiful exotic flavor to the dinner. Seeing the gracefulness of the girls dancing, the guests could feel themselves in India for a while. Beijing model art troupe Yihai fashion team’s "Jasmine" vividly demonstrated graceful subtle oriental beauty through the traditional style costumes and Chinese style music. The stage was capturing an eye with the beautiful colours, the table – with the various delicacies, making the guests greatly enjoy both the performance and the food. Shining with bright colours, the dinner became a successful conclusion of the Gourmet Carnival of the Silk Road Brands Collection. 

The Gorgeous Awarding Ceremony

According to the standard combination of public voting and expert selection, five "Silk Road Gold Awards", seven "Silk Road Silver Awards" and two "Silk Road Bronze Awards" were distributed, showing the interaction and sharing spirit. Japan Edo sushi, Yechun Restaurant Company, Beijing Bianyifang Roast Duck Company, South Korea Agricultural Products Distribution Corporation Beijing Representative Office and Jing brand Co. Ltd. won the gold medal. Beijing Yitiaolong Halal Food Company Jinfang Snacks, Beijing Xiangda Nanlaishun Restaurant Company, Liaoning Juhua nv Food Company, Beijing Yamei Melamine Wares Company, Xianchijie Tea Industry Company, Qingfeng Steamed Stuffed Bun shop and Lingqiu Guochun Bitter Buckwheat Food Company won the Silver Award. Longfeng Rice Industry and Jiangsu Hexian Company won the bronze medal.

The Wonderful Activities

Silk Road food is an important point, which leads to the further Silk Road cultural exchanges, and is a great factor in the development of people-to-people ties. The Gourmet Carnival of the Silk Road Brands Collection was successfully held to further promote Silk Road spirit of mutual exchanges by the non-governmental forces, it presented the principle of achieving shared growth through discussion and collaboration. It also presented the new image of China to the world. In line with this concept, "2018 Jiayuguan Silk Road Food Culture Festival" press-conference, "Grasping the New Era of China's Development" International Symposium, Silk Road Cities New Energy Application Conference and other activities were held on the same day."

2018 Jiayuguan Silk Road Food Culture Festival" announced to the public

Counsellor of Italian Prime Minister’s Office and Chief Advisor of the Silk Road Cities Alliance Mr. Giuseppe Rao, Ambassador of Ukraine to China Mr. Oleg Dyomin, Jiayuguan Vice Mayor Mr. Ma Dongyan, Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Executive Deputy Head Mr. Hu Lifang, Jiayuguan Municipal Tourism Administration Party Secretary Wang Yutai, Beijing Federation of Trade Unions Vice President Ding Shufen attended the press-conference. The Silk Road Cities Alliance and Jiayuguang Municipal Government will co-host the one-week "2018 Jiayuguan Silk Road Food Culture Festival" in June 2018.

At the press-conference, guests listened to the introduction of Jiayuguan's history and culture, scenic spots and urban features. The guests not only indulged themselves in magnificent desert scenery, but also were attracted by the cultural connotation and specialties of Jiayuguan.