One’s hometown memory is often associated with the rich variety of non-frill local food choices that vary between different places, be it small towns or big cities.

 

In Zigong, the regional business hub in southern Sichuan, the most popular local cuisine can be found at the many restaurants on Tongxing Lu, in Ziliujing district, part of the old quarter, along the Fuxi River.

 

This gourmet food street gathers the most famous of Yanbang cuisine,  which is known for fresh, pungent flavors and wide choices of food materials and cooking techniques, and other popular dishes of the Sichuan cuisine system. The food choices here include sautéed rabbit meet, mutton broth, beef dishes, grilled food, skewered food, hot pot, noodles, and various delicious snacks.

 

Dominating the food scene in the city, Yanbang cuisine, or salt gang cuisine,  is the collective name for dishes popular among merchants and workers in the city’s salt industry in the past. As an important tributary of Sichuan cuisine, one of the eight major cuisines in China, the development of Yanbang cuisine is the result of the booming well salt industry which has brought prosperity to the southern Sichuan city since Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220).