(Observation of the Two Sessions) Centennial Lanzhou Beef Noodles welcomes "new questions": how to "break the world" in the context of "intangible cultural heritage"?

  China News Service, Lanzhou, March 9 (Ai Qinglong) The century-old Lanzhou beef noodle, which is exploring the road of "fast food in the world", has more than 60,000 stores around the world, with an operating income of more than 80 billion yuan, and its development momentum can be described as rapid.

Especially under the blessing of the "national intangible cultural heritage" golden signboard, how Lanzhou beef noodles, which once pursued "market share", carried "cultural connotations" and entered the world, becoming a "new topic of Ma Limin, a representative of the National People's Congress and chairman of the Lanzhou Beef Noodle Industry Association." ".

  Last year, Lanzhou Beef Noodles, which enjoys the reputation of "China's No. 1 Noodles", was shortlisted for the "National Intangible Cultural Heritage" project and became the only hand-made pasta skill in China to be selected for this project.

In an exclusive interview with a reporter from Chinanews.com on the 9th, Ma Limin said that Lanzhou beef noodles with distinctive regional and ethnic characteristics embodies the creativity and wisdom of the working people in the northwest.

Beef noodles photographed in Lanzhou in September 2020.

Photo by Yan Jiao

  Founded in 1915, Lanzhou Beef Noodles is world-renowned for its unique style of "the soup is clear, the meat is fragrant, and the noodles are thin and long".

According to official statistics, at present, Lanzhou Beef Noodles not only spreads in various cities in mainland China, but also more than 100 "Lanzhou Beef Noodles" noodle restaurants are going to the world, which are distributed in more than 40 countries and regions such as Russia, Canada, Singapore, Japan, the United States and Brazil.

  "The development and continuation of beef noodle making skills is not something that happens overnight." Ma Limin analyzed that in China, where all kinds of pasta are blooming, it stands out from the fact that this bowl of noodles seems to take a few minutes from pulling to serving, but behind the scenes There are deep doorways.

In April 2018, foreign students learn production skills at a vocational training school in Lanzhou, Gansu.

(Data map) Photo by Yang Yanmin

  In Lanzhou, the birthplace of Lanzhou beef noodles, within a 10-minute walk in the urban area, you will most likely find an authentic beef noodle restaurant. The "standard" noodles of most noodle restaurants are capillary, one thin, two thin, and three thin. , Leek leaves, Dakuan, etc.

In fact, there are more than ten kinds of face shapes that have been inherited for hundreds of years, but most of them have gradually disappeared in the "jianghu".

  In Ma Limin's view, the production of special noodle shapes such as buckwheat ridges, square ridges, and hollow noodles is a test of the ramen master's control of strength, requiring firmness and softness.

Although under the influence of the "fast food" sales style of the market, the skills of special noodle shapes have gradually disappeared in the consumer market, but it does not mean that they have been "forgotten in the rivers and lakes", but in the hands of a few ramen masters. Inheritance, which is also the secret of becoming a "national intangible cultural heritage" project.

  In the past ten years, under the guidance of the government, Lanzhou Beef Noodles, which has a strong private foundation, has made great efforts in refinement, industrialization, and internationalization. Local brands of beef noodles have mushroomed rapidly.

With the changes in consumption patterns and the rise of online takeaway platforms, the pre-packaged beef noodle brand has been launched as a whole, making it a reality to "cook the taste of a noodle restaurant at home".

  "In the final analysis, food is a kind of culture, and the organic combination of food and culture can ensure the catering industry more vitality." Ma Limin said that in the future, he will combine the trademark management of Lanzhou beef noodle with the "national intangible cultural heritage", through industrialized operation and The integration of branding development, the integration of online expansion with the offline real economy, the integration of historical heritage and pioneering innovation, the integration of special food and cultural tourism, the promotion of industry standardization and standardization, and the promotion of its "going into the world" on the road to go further , walk more steadily.

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