Hotpot festival spices things up in Chongqing
"We hope to give full play to our resources to help promote Chongqing, bridge cooperation channels and realize win-win cooperation," said Feng Zhenhua, vice-chairman of the Chinese Businessmen Federation in Panama.
The festival features an enormous hotpot as a centerpiece, 10 meters in diameter and 1 meter tall and weighing in at 13 metric tons. It can serve about 50 people at the same time.
The pot was divided in two parts, with one containing light flavored broth and the other spicy broth, and it is decorated with a miniature rendering of the city. It is said to be the world's largest hotpot.
According to the Chongqing Hotpot Association, there are more than 30,000 hotpot restaurants in the municipality, with annual revenue of nearly 60 billion yuan ($9.4 billion) and 600,000 employees.
Statistics from the customs show Chongqing hotpot spicy soup base has been sold to 22 countries and regions, and the average annual export totals 900 tons.
Local hotpot brands such as Liuyishou, Dezhuang, Little Swan and Qin Ma have opened more than 200 hotpot restaurants in over 20 countries and regions, with annual output value of $228 million.
Boasting the largest number of hotpot restaurants in the country as well as some of its best, Chongqing was named "China's Hotpot City" by the China Cuisine Association in 2007.
